Nia H.

On a sunny Monday morning, Ms. Jackie wears her “The Future is Female” shirt as she prepares to lead an energetic warm-up with her advanced dance class.

“Basically, I’m Beyoncé!” joked Westridge’s new Dance Teacher, Ms. Jacklyn Lewis (more commonly known around campus as Ms. Jackie), as she recalled the intense training behind her college dance performances. While part of the E. Gwynn Dance Company at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, she and her fellow dancers rehearsed for eight months straight to prepare for a single show. It happened to be the same year Beyoncé was training for her legendary Homecoming performance at Coachella, and Ms. Jackie could not help but feel they were in sync. Stepping into her new role at Westridge, Ms. Jackie channels that same Beyoncé-level enthusiasm for dance, a passion rooted in her own history of training and performance.

Born in Arizona, Ms. Jackie has been dancing since a young age. However, it was in middle school when she began taking dance more seriously, studying ballet at the Tempe Dance Academy. By high school, Ms. Jackie branched out from ballet and began practicing contemporary and modern dance while part of the Impulse Dance Company. She competed regularly at dance tournaments and participated in recitals. After graduating from high school, Ms. Jackie attended North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, where she joined the E. Gwynn Dance Company. 

In college, she immersed herself in Afro-Caribbean movement, the Dunham technique, and modern dance, adding to the ballet and jazz foundation she had built previously in high school. Over time, her training expanded to include West African, house, and African street styles, giving her a uniquely diverse background. Ms. Jackie shared, “I’ve trained in a lot of different styles, and I want to bring that same variety to Westridge.” 

Ms. Jackie’s teaching career began in Baltimore, where she taught elementary school students before moving on to teach high schoolers in Los Angeles. Ms Jackie says she moved from Baltimore to “be closer to family…have more freedom creatively and to escape the cold.” Prior to Westridge, Ms. Jackie coached the Upper School Dance Team at Polytechnic School. She was drawn to Westridge because she found the facilities beautiful. “PAC really got my heart,” she said.

She was also very impressed by the level of talent that dance students exhibited in the 2025 Westridge Dance Concert. Ms. Jackie further expressed her gratitude for how welcoming students and co-workers had been during her first few weeks at Westridge. 

With this strong foundation of support from co-workers and students, Ms. Jackie hopes to continue expanding Westridge’s dance program by incorporating more Lower and Middle School engagement. She has already taken initiatives by leading a Lower School club called the Westridge Dance Collective. Additionally, she expressed her desire for Upper School dancers to perform at Westridge sports events and eventually dance competitively. “I’m just trying to bring my own spice, my own vibe, to campus,” Ms. Jackie said.

Some things that make up Ms. Jackie’s “vibe” are attending concerts, hiking, doing yoga, and listening to music—specifically musical artists SiR and Rema. She is also a singer-songwriter and produces her own concerts. You can listen to her music on Apple Music under the name Jayelle. So far, she has performed in Phoenix, Baltimore, Ghana, and LA. She has another show coming up in October at Greensboro, North Carolina. 

Another fun fact about Ms. Jackie is that her favorite food is Mexican food. She said, “I love Mexican food. If I could be Mexican food, I would.” One of her favorite restaurants is Spanglish Kitchen in Alhambra. 

When asked about what this year’s dance concert will be like, Ms. Jackie said that it is still a work in progress, but she hopes to “focus less on dance steps” and to “bring out the girls’ artistic expression.” She added, “[I hope] the audience will walk away feeling something really, really special.”