Northwest School

Miss Jen attended the University of Music and Art in Frankfurt, where she received her Master of Arts Degree in Theater Dance with a major in Classical Vaganova Technique.  During her residency in Germany, she danced with the Frankfurt Ballet Company and was a guest performer with Royal Ballet Company in London. Miss Jen began her teaching in Germany and has continued teaching here in Washington for roughly 13 years.  She is the founder of JPB's Le Petit Ballet studio in Bremerton.

Miss Stephanie attended Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle receiving her Bachelor of Arts in Dance Degree, Cum Laude.  She formerly danced with Cornish Dance Theater company and continually appears as a guest performer for Olympic Perfomance Group on Bainbridge Island.  She served as Co-Director for Allegro Dance Troupe, a competition performance team, for 10 years.  She has been teaching and choreographing for roughly 15 years in Port Orchard, Silverdale, Poulsbo and Bainbridge Island.  Her teaching specialties include Lyrical/Contemporary, Jazz and Modern dance.

Miss Gretchen Nielson holds a BA in Drama & English, and a Masters in Teaching from the University of Washington.  She worked as a teaching artist for TheatreWorks Theatre Co. in California’s bay area, and extensively for the Denver Center for the Performing Arts in Colorado for the past several years.  Gretchen has studied voice, piano & dance for the stage since childhood, and has a special place in her heart for American Musical Theatre. Favorite roles include Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, Cinderella in Cinderella, The Baker’s Wife in  Into the Woods, Irene in Crazy for You, Maggie in 42^nd Street, Eliza Doolittle in My Fair                                       Lady, and more. 

Miss Jourdan Camacho started dancing at age 2 and has been teaching and choreographing for almost 6 years now.  She competed in dance competitions for over 7 years and won several awards and scholarships.  She has also had the opportunity to perform on cruise ships and in Disneyland.  Jourdan frequently teaches for competition and performance teams.  Her specialties include Hip Hop, Jazz, Lyrical/Contemporary and Creative Dance for ages 2-4yrs.

Christine Luders has 12 yrs of professional, experience as a Ballroom, Latin, & Swing dance instructor, including private & group instruction, competition, choreography, & dance teams. She is trained in & teaches American Smooth, American Rhythm & International Standard styles of ballroom dance and continues to receive coaching from nationally and internationally respected coaches to advance her own dancing. From 2004-2006 she trained and competed in Professional International Standard competitive events throughout California.  In 2009 she was certified by Dance Vision International Dance Assoc.

Meghan Shepard started her professional dance career and training in Los Angeles, CA where she worked intimately with many famous choreographers, including assisting with the Cross Connection Dance Convention.  In 2003, she moved to Portland, OR and danced with Extreme Dance Company. With this company she performed across Oregon and traveled as far as Scotland. In 2004, she attended Cornish College of the Arts and performed with the Cornish Dance Theatre. In 2007 she graduated from Cornish, Magna Cum Laude, and went on to perform with dance companies throughout Seattle. She is currently a company member of Jerboa Dance and teaches Tap for Northwest School of dance.

Miss Jenni Brantley believes that fitness is a vital part of remaining healthy, but the struggle for her was finding something that kept her motivated and excited.  That changed when she discovered Zumba fitness in January 2011.  Having done dance performances and compeitions during school, Miss Jenni instantly fell in love with Zumba fitness.  Exercise does not have to be boring and Zumba classes are far from it.  Miss Jenni became certified in Zumba fitness in May 2011 and later became certified in Zumbatomic in September 2011.  She currently teaches Zumba for Northwest School of Dance.



Who We Are

Jennifer Picart-Branner and Stephanie Clarke are the founders and owners of Northwest School of Dance.  Together they form a dynamic teaching team with more than 30 years combined teaching experience.  They've been teaching for the past 15 years in Kitsap County and surrounding areas.