Jessica VALENTÍN

A native of Southeastern Virginia, Jessica began her dance training at the young age of three because she insisted on always wearing “twirly” dresses. After years of performing locally and nationally, she pursued her dream by moving to New York to attend NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, where she graduated cum laude in 2014, receiving a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance and a minor in Psychology.

Throughout her career, she has had the privilege of performing works by acclaimed choreographers such as Florian Bilbao, Reut Shemesh, Ihsan Rustem, Jenny Rocha, Charlotte Boye-Christensen, Zoe Scofield, Andrea Parsons, Nicole Buggé, Allyson Green, Deborah Jowitt, Renee Redding-Jones, Jamey Hampton and Ashley Roland. She has trained with Elbert Watson, Tisch School of the Arts Summer Dance Festival, The School of Richmond Ballet, The Ailey School, Strictly Seattle and NYC’s Gaga Winter Intensive. Jessica also studied abroad in Prague, Czech Republic, taking classes with Jarek Cemerek, the Academy of Performing Arts, and Laterna Magika.

Feeling stifled by the conventional professional dance career path, Jessica branched out in 2017 to begin exploring a collaborative vision with her partner. Kitfox Valentín's conceptual fine art photography and video work, Jessica Valentín's choreography and ritual dance performance, and their shared love for connecting with the wild nature of one's landscape and the wild human spirit within merged to create GROUND+CENTER.

Jessica is based in Portland,OR as a free lance dance artist and movement and wellness guide. She is a 300 hour licensed Mind Body Dancer yoga teacher. Jessica's body of work, Luminous Architecture, weaves an integrative web of movement, healing, wellness practices, and holistic lifestyle design. She also teaches open yoga classes at Yoga Refuge in the Montavilla neighborhood of Portland. Jessica wishes to express the deepest gratitude for the love and support of her family, friends, and teachers.