Jenna Werhun
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
https://jennawerhun.com
Jenna is a pioneer in the Canadian tap dance scene, being one of the first tap dancers to graduate from a post-secondary music program with her tap shoes as her primary instrument. In June of 2017, she graduated from the University of Alberta with a Bachelors of Education, with Distinction. Most recently, she has accepted positions as a dance educator with Edmonton Public Schools, at Lillian Osborne High School, and as a sessional instructor at The New School, a University in Manhattan, NY. Jenna is most proud of her first ever full-length, multi-disciplinary production, for the arms that have held me, which she produced, directed, and choreographed. This is an ongoing project, employing 25 + multidisciplinary artists, funded by grants through the Canada Council for the Arts.
In 2012, she began her interning for Breaking Barres, (under the direction of Barbara Vargas and Jamie Ausmus) a dance production company educating dancers through workshops and creating unique projects and opportunities for the arts community. Jenna has recently traveled to, performed at, and assisted faculty members at various tap festivals, including Tri-Tone Productions Rhythm Body and Soul, Just Tap, Feats Festival, and the Vancouver International Tap Festival, where she was privileged to be a faculty member in 2016 & 2015, perform in Lisa La Touche’s premiere production of ‘Hold On’ in 2014, and dance alongside Chole Arnold's Syncopated Ladies in 2013
Jenna performs monthly as the featured tap dancer at Halley's Club in Edmonton, AB. In 2018, Jenna had the unique opportunity of playing the Duke Ellington Sacred Concert with the Saskatoon Jazz Orchestra, where she shared the stage with several original members of the Duke Ellington Orchestra. She has also been invited as a faculty member to various international tap festivals, such as RIFF in Dallas Texas, and 2015 & 2016 Vancouver International Tap Festivals. She has had the opportunity to open for a number of international recording artists, including Snoop Dogg, Mya Harrison and Chris Dave and the Drumhedz. She regularly plays shows with local musicians in the Edmonton area and is constantly finding new inspiration from each artist she collaborates with. She is especially focused on her most recent tap/music concept, called Sole Rhythm; a collaboration uniting tap dance and music in a band atmosphere.
In 2015, Jenna has developed her own tap education and professional development program, called the Next Steps, where she trains and mentors a group of talented tap dancers from Edmonton and its surrounding area. Along with teaching tap at local dance studios and workshops at public schools, she has had the chance to work with, and take class from some of taps greatest artists. Her main influences include Barbara Vargas, Johnathan Morin, and Travis Knights.
Email: jenna.werhun@gmail.com
Phone: (780) 819-1032