Biography:

Ms. Janis is based in NYC but was born and raised in Greenville, South Carolina. Growing up, she was inspired by Tina Turner’s voice and heartfelt songs which fueled her desire to sing, dance and act at a young age.

She attended Greenville’s only public performing arts high school, Greenville’s Fine Arts Center which spring boarded her singing and dancing passion. The stage embraced her as the Leading Player in the musical Pippin.

Ms. Janis received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from Howard University in Washington, DC. Her concentration was in acting, however, she continued to study dance and take voice lessons to hone her craft. After graduating from Howard, Ms. Janis was cast in her first regional theater show, Blues for an Alabama Sky, directed by Al Freeman Jr. at the Vineyard Playhouse in Martha’s Vineyard. This led her to earn a Master of Fine Arts graduate degree at Rutgers University in 2001.

Making the move to NYC was the next step for this fresh talent where she performed non-stop with her then singing/songwriting group, Sultry Jones, at venues such as Le Bar Bat, The Bitter End and in Philadelphia at the Grape Street Pub. Next came a tremendous opportunity to record at Jimi Hendrix’s Electric Lady Studios where Sultry Jones completed two demos.

Ms. Janis began her work with children in NY with the Periwinkle National Theater Group. Through this group, she visited NYC public schools that were considered high risk and through performance helped the students deal with bullying and violence.

She then met the award-winning Choreographer and Founder of Leapsmart, Monica Levy. Leapsmart is an innovative creative movement program for preschool children. Ms. Janis worked with Monica teaching thousands of children in Westchester for five years. In 2008, Ms. Janis became a Leapsmart business owner serving NYC as well as Brooklyn.

In 2009, Ms. Janis released her first children’s album, Moving Bodies and Inspiring Hearts Volume 1 to great reviews from teachers, parents and children. Most recently, Ms. Janis has completed her sophomore album, Tumbling Fun Volume 2. The album has 14 original songs that are inspired by Ms. Janis’ love of southern rock and blues. The music encourages children to sing, dance and dream of traveling to faraway places. Tumbling Fun is set to be released on February 12th, 2013 followed by an invitation-only album release party on February 16th.

Ms. Janis is also a newlywed and lives in Brooklyn, NY.