Vicki Adams Willis, DJD Co-Founder & Artistic Director  Vicki carries on a family tradition that began when her mother, Alice (Murdoch) Adams opened one of the first dance schools in Calgary in the 1920s. Vicki’s passion for dance and jazz has taken her literally all over the globe. Besides teaching and choreographing for countless organizations, including the renowned School at Jacob’s Pillow, Vicki founded the Jazz Division in the Faculty of Fine Arts’ Program of Dance at the University of Calgary in 1978, and co-founded DJD in 1984 where she enthusiastically continues in her role as Artistic Director. Honours include U of C’s Superior Teacher Award, Global Television’s Women of Vision Award, and The City of Calgary’s Community Achievement Award for the Arts, and an Alberta Centennial Medal. She has also had a U of C Fine Arts Entrance Award named in her honour, and was recently chosen as one of the University of Calgary’s Top 40 Alumni.
		Kimberley Cooper, Artistic Associate & Resident Choreographer Kimberley began dancing with Decidedly Jazz Danceworks as an apprentice in 1989 and has been Artistic Associate/Resident Choreographer since she returned from a sabbatical funded by Canada Council for the Arts in 2000/2001. In 2001 she created her first full-length work, Popular, that was produced by DJD for One Yellow Rabbit’s High Performance Rodeo. Since then she has co-created Velvet and the critically acclaimed cross-cultural mega show ¡Bulla! A Loud Cuban Jazz Experiment, with DJD Co-Founder Hannah Stilwell. In addition to continuing to dance full-time with the DJD company. Cooper is an important voice in the independent dance scene in western Canada, both as a dancer and as a choreographer. Her work has been produced locally by Dancers' Studio West, the University of Calgary’s Program of Dance, One Yellow Rabbit, eko dance projects, Springboard Dance, in Edmonton by Alberta Dance Alliance, and in Vancouver at Dances for small Stages. In 2002 she was named Emerging Artist of the Year by Alberta Dance Alliance. In 2004 she created the dance film Distemper with Director John Albanis. Funded by BRAVOFact! and the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, Distemper enjoyed success in festivals across North America and Europe. The two recently released their newest short film Methuselah, with Jason Stroh as a co-choreographer.  In 2006 she created in Charcoal & Crimson, a parallactic fairy tale which the company performed at Calgary's newest venue The GRAND Theatre.
		Joanne Baker, Dance School Principal & Arts-in-Education Coordinator Joanne has been a part of the DJD organization since 1993. She has filled the roles of dancer, artistic assistant, rehearsal director, school instructor, arts in education co-ordinator and dance school principal.  Since the birth of her son in December 2004 Joanne has pared down her multiple titles and has focused her energy on the dance school and arts in education facets of DJD. She is also a passionate teacher at the DJD school and shares her love of dance with children in Calgary area schools whenever she can.
		Sarisa Figueroa, Artistic Assistant/Dancer Sarisa began her formal dance training in classical ballet at the age of seven, graduated from the Edmonton School of Ballet’s Professional Program in 1993, and has danced with Decidedly Jazz ever since (apart from a year- long sabbatical during the 2003-2004 season to pursue independent interests in theatre and dance). Her dance studies have taken her to New York, Los Angeles, Montana, Cuba, and Spain and across Canada studying jazz dance and many of its root forms. Apart from dancing with DJD, she has performed with One Yellow Rabbit, Springboard Dance Collective, Theatre of the Living Statue, Sage Theatre as well as for various independent choreographers and directors. She was Artistic Director for DJD’s dancer-choreographed evening Larimer St. in 2005 and root 7 in 2006. She also choreographs, acts and teaches in Calgary and throughout Western Canada.
		Michèle Moss, DJD Co-Founder Michèle is Co-Founder of DJD and continues to create work for the company, most recently for the twentieth anniversary show in 2004. Over the years, she has served as choreographer, School Principal and Associate Artistic Director for DJD. Michèle is presently a faculty member of the B.A. Dance Program at the University of Calgary. Her most significant research areas are the West African roots of jazz and the traditions of the West African Diaspora.
		Hannah Stilwell, DJD Co-Founder Hannah Stilwell is a performer, teacher and choreographer entranced by the relationship between audible and visual rhythms. Throughout her career, she has dedicated herself to the discovery of many dance forms that have fused over the past century to become jazz dance. Her work has taken her to Africa, Cuba, Jamaica, India and throughout North America. Hannah holds a B.A. from U of C where she has instructed dance since 1982, and is a founder of Decidedly Jazz Danceworks.
		Jamie Freeman Cormack, Pre-professional Director Jamie has been dancing, teaching and choreographing in the Calgary dance community for over a decade.  Her love for dance began at the age of 8 with Ballet, training extensively in Calgary and in the summers at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School, the Alberta Ballet and the Banff Center. Upon graduating from high school, Jamie attended the Decidedly Jazz Summer Immersion in 1989; this was the beginning of her love of Jazz.  From the ages of 18 to 23 Jamie studied at Decidedly Jazz, the University of Calgary as well as lived and studied in New York City. Jamie became a company member of DJD in 1994 to 2002 with a break in 2001 to rehearsal mistress ‘ A Tap Odyssey’ and have her first child. Over the years Jamie has studied in England, Sweden, Boston, Montreal, Kentucky and New York.  She has taught, Choreographed and/or danced for the Young Canadians, the University of Calgary, EKO dance projects, Spring Board Dance Collective, Intranz Dance,  Alberta Children’s Theater, the High Performance Rodeo, Alberta Dance Explosions, Decidedly Jazz Danceworks and many other independent dance festivals.  Currently Jamie is the Director of the pre-professional program at the DJD  School.