
PINNACLE PERFORMING ARTS
EVERY DAY is an adventure and it's ALL ABOUT the climb!
Who We Are
Jana Hirsch
Jana has over 25 years of experience teaching jazz, ballet, musical theater, hip-hop, and tumbling. In addition to various gigs as an actor, musician, and radio DJ, she is an accomplished dance teacher and choreographer whose credits include work for GAP Kids, TJ Maxx, Mall of America, Easter Seals, Great American Model Search and various theater productions including 13 the Musical, You're a Good Man Charlie Brown and The Wiz. Her students have been seen working professionally in commercials and programs for NBC, Target, Best Buy, Walt Disney World, GAP Kids, Nickelodeon, Mall of America and the Detroit Pistons.
Jana's performance groups have won various dance awards both regionally and nationally. She has served on the fine arts faculty of Shattuck St. Mary's School, as well as several national dance competitions and workshops. She was also a featured dancer on the Ellen Degeneres show (which is a long story involving a snake, a sleeping baby and a ninja - but it's worth hearing). She holds a BA degree from St. Olaf College.
Alessandra Amendolar
I started dancing at at Toby Lagervall Dance Studio (later Dance Dana and Company) training with Dana Lagervall-Sawyer. I graduated with Honors from Perpich Center for Arts Education. There I studied under Mary Harding and Tom Kanthak. While at PCAE, I worked with numerous guest artists (Eddie Oroyan, Stephan Reynolds, and Michelle Miller to name a few, and composer Marc Mellits).
I then attended the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, where I graduated Cum Laude earning a Bachelor of Science Degree in Dance and a Minor in Creative Writing. At UWSP I trained under Joan Karlen, Jeannie Hill, Michael Estanich, Pamela Luedtke. While at UWSP I worked with multiple artists, some being, Lily Cai, Claudio Munoz, Billy Siegenfeld, and Luc Vanier.
It's hard to choose just one favorite performance piece I've done, but one of my favorite roles/opportunities, was dancing with the Moscow Ballet Company in their production of "The Great Russian Nutcracker."
Each year I've worked at Pinnacle, I have had different moments that stand out to me, and could certainly be "the favorite part" about being part of this team. One thing that has always been consistent year to year, class to class is seeing and hearing the students cheer each other on and truly support the team. If someone has a beautiful moment, it does not go unnoticed in these classes!