Hi, I'm Jacki, and I am about to make my dream of owning a dance studio come true! In fact, 4 weeks from today I open. How stressful it is but how wonderful! I started dancing when I was 3 and stayed with the same teacher, Miss Dorothea M. Riegert, until I went to college. She was my teacher, my inspiration, and my role model. She studied in NY, and was the best. I still talk to her and am the teacher I am today because of her. I went on to Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana and earned a BS in Ballet Pedagogy. I studied under Marina Svetlova, Jurgen Pagels, and Anton Dolin. From there I earned a scholarship with ABT in NY and performed with them. (Mikhail Barishnykov was as awesome in class as he was on stage.) I married (and subsequently divorced) and had 2 wonderful boys...that's right, boys! I have been teaching and choreographing for over 28 years, and dreaming of my own studio. I teach ballet, pointe, lyrical, tap, and jazz. Yes, ballerinas have trouble with hip hop, so no hip hop for me! I was named Choreographer of the Year by the Dance America. My studio is the J. Gari Academy of Dance, and with 2 more nights of registration I have 38 students signed up so far. Dreams truly do come true.