JANETTE RAWLS

Dance Professor at Fei Tian College - Middletown

Janette Rawls holds an MFA in Dance with a concentration in Classical Ballet from Fei Tian College - Middletown and a BFA in Dance from Belhaven University. She started her professional career in Kansas City with Stӧrling Dance Theater, performing in the large productions Underground and The Little Match Girl. In Houston, Janette danced with Earthen Vessels: Sandra Organ Dance Company and appeared as a guest artist with FrenetiCore, Jhon Stronks, and for several commercial dance and modeling projects with Dance Houston. In the northeast, Janette worked with Catapult on an international tour after its feature on “America’s Got Talent."

She has also toured with Elements Dance and performed with the Warwick Dance Collective, where she danced demi-soloist roles in Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Nutcracker, and Cinderella as well as choreographed an original work, Falling Leaves, on the company. In 2009, Janette choreographed and produced Seeing for the Minnesota Fringe Festival. Shortly after finishing treatment for cancer in 2013, she co-founded Emotions Physical Theatre with her husband Shawn, serving in various roles over the years including administrative director, production manager, stage manager, and dancing the leading role in Process, a show she co-wrote with Shawn Rawls about her experience with cancer.

Janette has over fifteen years of teaching experience, including teaching collegiate-level courses, summer intensives, conventions, and in performing arts schools. She is certified in Stott® Pilates, Classical Pilates, PBT®, and holds an ABT® National Training Curriculum teacher certification in primary through level five. Janette is currently on faculty as an Assistant Professor of Dance at Fei Tian College - Middletown where she teaches ballet, pointe, choreography, dance kinesiology, arts management, and numerous BFA and MFA level academic courses for dancers. Additionally she serves as chief operations officer for Emotions Physical Theatre and teaches ballet and Pilates in the New York/New Jersey area.