Bio

Jenna Spinei (she/her) is a Seattle based performer, educator, choreographer and dance movement therapist, who has worked between Ireland, England and the United States for over ten years. She holds a Movement Science BS from the University of Michigan, a Dance Movement Psychotherapy MA from Goldsmiths, University of London and is a Franklin Method® Certified Level 3 Educator. Jenna has performed with The Dance Ensemble of Michigan, People Dancing, Movement Artists’ Guild, Cornrows Dance, AuxWerks Dance, Jillian Hopper Dances, and in “The Voice of Dance” by Sally Pesetsky, as well as performing her own works at select events including Shape//Matter.

Jenna has been a dance instruction faculty member at Broadway Dance Ireland, Jackson School of the Arts, and Cornish College Preparatory Dance Program. She has taught numerous guest artist workshops in the US and abroad for organizations including IdeasTap, Artlab J, Haus of Dance and The Studio. Jenna held a teaching artist position with the University of Michigan Musical Society, facilitating workshops for DakhaBrakha, A Far Cry, and A Roomful of Teeth performances, in addition to a Ping Chong + Company Voices of Muslim Identity residency. She held a two-year teaching artist fellowship with Youth Arts Alliance, facilitating dance and movement workshops in juvenile detention settings, and has recently returned to her work with this organization in a virtual space. Currently she is a teaching artist on the Creative Advantage Roster, coordinated by the Seattle Office of Arts & Culture.

Jenna’s dance therapy work with refugees is documented in research published in the “Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychology”. She has facilitated therapeutic dance and movement sessions for LifeWays Community Mental Health, Syrian American Rescue Network Family Health Program, Naturopathic Institute of Therapies & Education, Project HEAL, Childhaven, and the Wayne State Stress, Trauma & Anxiety Research Clinic (STARC). Recently, she collaborated with Shazia Siddiqi MA, LPC, ATR-BC to create a virtual series of dance and art therapy videos for Let's Art About It.