About Jesse Katen
Jesse began studying dance in 1991 with Miss Bobbie Jo Kelsey in
Deposit, NY. While a student of hers, he participated in many recitals and
competitions across the region including the Broome and Delaware
County Fairs, the New York State Fair, Precision Talent Competition, and
the John Long Talent Expo. In 2000, Jesse was awarded the Student of
the Year Award by Bobbie Jo Kelsey at the Dance Theater's Summer
Recital. That same year, Kelsey invited him to teach tap and ballet at her
new Windwood Hill Dance Academy in Susquehanna, PA. Jesse was the
First Runner Up for the Mr Dance of New York Title at the United States
Tournament of Dance in 2001. In 2002, Jesse began teaching Jesse's
Summer Dance Workshops at the Deposit State Theatre which were
repeated the summers of '03 and '04.
At Ithaca College, he was able to take hip-hop classes with instructors
such as Jose de la Cruz of New York City's Broadway Dance Center.
Jesse founded the Deposit Hip-Hop Dance Team in 2003 which
performed at the Lumberjack Festival in Deposit and at the Delaware
County Fair in Walton. In September of 2004, he opened the Jesse Katen
School of Dance in Deposit, offering classes in ballet, tap, jazz, and
hip-hop. The school presented a Winter Recital at the Deposit State
Theatre in November 2004 and a Summer Recital at the Deposit High
School Auditorium in June 2005. In the summer of 2005, the school
presented three performances at the Deposit Lumberjack Festival. In
March of 2007, he was invited to teach the ballet session at the spring
workshop held by the National Association of Dance and Affiliated Arts,
Inc. in Binghamton, NY.
Jesse Katen has served on the Humanities and Sciences Honors
Program Advisory Board at Ithaca College, the Board of Directors of the
Deposit State Theatre and Performing Arts Center, and taught sessions in
French as a teaching assistant at Ithaca. In 2005, he graduated magna
cum laude from Ithaca College after three years and began working on his
PhD in Philosophy, Interpretation, and Culture and Medieval Studies at
Binghamton University in addition to running his dance school. He is
fluent in French with reading knowledges in Old French, Italian, and Latin.
Jesse Katen is the Vice President of the Binghamton, NY chapter of the
National Association of Dance and Affiliated Arts, and is a member of the
Broome County Arts Council and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New
York City. He is committed to providing superior instruction in dance
technique and to working to develop sophisticated artistic intellect in his
students.
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