KLJ Movement, Performance and Dance Company Members

Kyra Johnson (she/her) started dancing at the age of 10, however, her mother would say moving started in the womb. She began her training locally from studios and dance teams. Ms. Johnson continued her advancement in dance and earned a BA in Dance and a BS in Psychology from University of Wisconsin Stevens Point (UWSP). She has a foundation in styles of modern, jazz, and ballet. Following her Dance degree, Ms. Johnson has been a member and choreographed twice for Madison Contemporary Dance. She continued development at Barrio Dance Studio in Madison, WI, where she performed in a music video for D Major Music and was an instructor. Outside of dance, Ms. Johnson is a graduate student at the University of Wisconsin, Whitewater in counseling education in pursue of obtaining a license as a Marriage and Family Therapist (MFT). 

Originally from Minnesota, I, Madalin (she/her) earned my bachelor of arts degree in Dance from UW-Stevens Point. After receiving a scholarship to study Early Childhood Dance Education in New York at the 92nd Street Y, I found my calling as an educator. I am now co-teaching at Preschool of the Arts in Madison, Wi. Over the past two years I have been a guest choreographer and teacher at Summit Dance Studio located in Detroit Lakes, MN. Eager to continue my professional performance career, I am currently training in the Madison area and performing with KLJ Movement. My main areas of study include modern, ballet, jazz, choreography, and improvisation. 

My (he/him) passion for dance started at a very young age. My grandmother used to take me to the dance studio while her and my godfather rehearsed swing dance routines for hours on end. As I got older I began to take the route of music, however, dance was always what I was drawn back to. During my teenage years I trained and took classes in the area before starting to compete. I currently train and teach ballet, jazz, majorette and more! Dance has made me a very determined and resilient person. During my journey as a dancer I have heard “No.” a lot. It’s made me fight that much harder to be who I am today at 25! I wouldn’t change a single thing about my path. I have the opportunity to not only coach dance, but to be a performer again as well. Nothing will ever be out of my reach as long as I continue to learn, grow, and execute. Being a company member at KLJ Movement has provided so many opportunities for me. I’m looking forward to my personal growth and the growth of this incredible organization. 

“Tenacity”

The quality of being very determined; persistent forward momentum with a game plan; to never stop trying to achieve a goal even in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds.

For the past 14 years, I, Terrianna (She/Her/Hers) have used dance as a creative expression of my theatric full-of-life attitude. A native of Detroit Michigan, I begin my career as a dancer studying performance arts with a focus on dance at Cass Technical High School. At Cass Tech, I danced all four years and eventually became captain/choreographer of the Cass Technical High School Marching Band Majorette Team. Following Highschool and entering college I joined the Michigan Tech Dance Team where I trained in ballet, modern dance, jazz, and hip hop. While on the dance team, I mainly performed at college basketball games and football halftime shows. In 2021, I found KLJ and began signing up for the Saturday workshops to pick up my passion for dance again. In 2022 I decided to join the company to further develop my skill in dance and start performing again. Today, I enjoy dancing and getting to know my fellow company members. My main areas of focus include hip-hop, modern dance, majorette, and jazz.

Janessa Drainville (she/her) grew up loving movement, but she didn’t start dancing until later in life. At 16 years old, Janessa joined a competitive hip hop dance company based out of Las Vegas and spent the next year training and performing across the West Coast. She continued her dance education in college, adding modern, lyrical, reggaetón, raga, and jazz funk to her repertoire. Outside of dance, she enjoys exploring new places and drinking new teas.