About Jorie
I use the descriptors, “writer who dances” and “dancer who writes” pretty interchangeably since I’ve been telling stories and dancing practically since I was born. One of my earliest memories is being called out of my preschool (or maybe it was kindergarten, who knows?) class to a neighboring class to tell repurposed Curious George stories.
While I initially wanted to be an astronaut, writing was one of my outlets of choice. I’m not sure when my aspiration changed from shooting for the stars to writing about them, but by high school, my path was set.
Dance was never too far behind. I spent 12 years taking classes, cramming choreography and competing with a local studio in my hometown of Miami.
My two great loves converged at Northwestern University where I pursued an undergraduate degree majoring and journalism and minoring in dance. I wrote for the on-campus publications Pulse — which focused on Black student life, and Her Campus — think Glamour U. I also joined an on-campus tap group, Tonik Tap, and choreographed four pieces for Tonik’s various shows, in addition to performing in the faculty-produced Danceworks all four years of college. I capped my time at Northwestern off with a quarter-long internship at Cosmopolitan magazine.
My entire college career, I dreaded the day when I’d no longer be able to nurture my two passions simultaneously, and would have to sacrifice one to focus on the other as all real adults do. I’m thankful to report, that hasn’t been the case.
Since graduating from college I’ve had the pleasure of seeing my words in publications like Lioness Magazine, the Museum Hack blog and FanSided’s online celebrity publication Culturess (I was their official Insecure recapper for seasons 2 and 3).
My dancin’ feet are also still dancin’. I’ve been an apprentice and company member with companies like Noumenon Dance Ensemble and Praize Productions, Inc.’s Rize Pro Elite. In 2021 and 2022 I also guest performed with Chicago Tap Theatre in their story show Tap Secret and their winter show For the Love of Tap. And, yes, despite constantly splitting my time between writing and dance, I am a whole adult with a skin routine and everything!
When I’m not taking class, typing furiously or choreographing to a new song I discovered, you can find me cooking a new meal I found on Pinterest, devouring a Netflix or Hulu documentary, reading a book or decorating my planner/bullet journal (pro tip: never leave me unattended in a Michael’s)! If you’ve made it this far, you’re either a voracious reader, you’re lost or you’re interested in the same things I am. Either way, hello, and thanks for reading!