Jamie Castillo
About Jamie Castillo
Jamie was passionate about dance at a very young age and started training when she was just 2 years old. Since then she has been trained in multiple styles of dance including, ballet, contemporary, modern, jazz, musical theater, and hip hop. She has competed in the Youth American Grand Prix multiple times and got placed in the top 12 of her age division two years in a row. Over the years she has been offered opportunities to go to year round programs such as Joffrey Ballet School and Kirov Academy of Ballet. She was grateful to have had private classical training with former Pacific Northwest Ballet principal dancers, Lindsi Dec and Karel Cruz. Jamie has had extensive classical ballet training from dancers like former Pacific Northwest Ballet Principal dancer, Louise Nadeau and founder of Youth American Grand Prix, Larissa Saveliev. She has a very diverse dance background since being taught by artists like founder of BalletRed, Josie Walsh and Tony Award nominee, Karine Plantadit. Jamie is also very passionate about choreographing and she had the opportunity to choreograph multiple pieces with Evergreen City Ballet that were showcased in their yearly programs.
Jamie's Teaching Philosophy
"In this day in age most dancers feel pressured to do the impossible by forcing their unique body type to fit in a mold that is unrealistic and has been outdated for many years. Dance is an artform. It is not a "one size fits all" mentality and it shouldn't be taught that way. I like to teach dancers how to listen to their bodies and how to perform the selected dance style to the best of their ability. I focus on the balance and communication between a dancer’s mind and their unique body type. I want to also help dancers be more diverse in their training. The dance world has been changing and I believe in order to have a successful career in this field, dancers need to be trained in multiple styles of dance and know how to take care of their bodies. Growing up I was rarely taught how to properly warm up and take care of myself. I had to teach myself how to avoid future injuries and how to correctly rest my body. I want to give dancers a step ahead by teaching them these things. Dancing is meant to be healing and freeing and that is what I hope to accomplish with my teaching.”