Artistic Director

Andrew Jannetti was born and raised in South Philadelphia and began his formal dance training at Montclair State University where he received a BA in Speech and Theater with a Teaching Certification and Dance Specialization. After college he headed straight for NYC where he continued his dance, choreographic, and anatomy studies with such luminaries as Nikolais/Louis, Erick Hawkins, Nancy Meehan, Zvi Gotheiner, Cindi Green, Zena Rommett, Diane Grumet, Robert Dunn, Cathy Ward, Mary Spalding, Joy Kellman, Ruth Currier, Jose Limon Institute, Cunningham Studio, Dance Space(Lynn Simonson, Charles Wright, Katiti King) Irene Dowd, and Bessie Schönberg.  

Choreographing since 1982, his work has been seen throughout the US and Europe. Jack Anderson, of the New York Times has called him  “neo-romantic” and his work is “theatrically persuasive”.   Bernadine Jennings of Attitude Magazine has called him a “tenacious designer of movement”.  Jennifer Dunning has said that his work “distilled love and longing with the simplest of moves and gestures”.  He has presented numerous programs for family audiences.  Jennie Schulman of Backstage has described these programs as "the ideal introduction to the scope and imagery of the contemporary dance form" and “consummate lyricism”.  In addition to performing with his own company, he has performed in works by Christalyn Wright, Kriota Willberg, Claire Porter, Claudia Gittleman, 

Beth Jucovy, Alan Danielson, Mimi Garrard, Phyllis Rose, Mary Spalding, Loretta DiBianca, Judy Levine, and Plath/Taucher Productions.

Mr. Jannetti has been the recipient of numerous grants from the New York State Council on the Arts, Manhattan Community Arts Fund, the Field, New Jersey State Council on the Arts, New York Foundation for the Arts, Meet the Composers Fund, Harkness Center, Citibank, Exxon, Paragon Venture Fund, McGraw-Hill, and numerous other corporate sponsors.  He has been Artist in Residence for four seasons at the Fort Wayne Dance Collective in Fort Wayne, Indiana and a guest choreographer at the College of Staten Island, CUNY and with the Island Moving Company of Newport, Rhode Island. In 2001 he received a PASEtter Award from the Partnership for After School Education for his work with NYC youth and a BAXten Award in 2005 for his outstanding teaching as a Dance Arts Educator.   He has had a number of articles published in Dance Teacher, Dance Spirit and the National Dance Association Journal featuring his classes with lesson plans for both adults and children.  Mr. Jannetti is the Artistic Director of Andrew Jannetti & Dancers. A consummate performer and dance educator, he developed the entire dance program at Staten Island Academy and was the first Education Director at the BAX/Brooklyn Arts Exchange for 9 years. He was the co-director of the New Jersey School of Dance in Highland Park, NJ for 4 years and the co-director of Children’s Dance Project of Manhattan. For three summers he was the director of Summerstage Kids, a performing arts program in Rockland County, NY. In 2010 he went back to school and  graduated with honors from the Masters program in Dance Education at NYU Steinhardt.

He currently works for the NYC Department of Education teaching dance at PS 79 Francis Lewis Elementary School in Queens, NY, as well as coordinating all of school-break programs at BAX/Brooklyn Arts Exchange . In addition, he teaches various levels of modern dance technique classes, continuing education classes, stretch classes, aqua workout, and his own special brand of Aerobics (Rhythmic Fitness) throughout the NY/NJ metropolitan area. He is an Adjunct Professor at Saint Francis College in Downtown Brooklyn, NY and at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ. He is a member of NDEO, ACSM, ACE, and the Counseil International De La Dance (CID UNESCO). 

 In November of 2022 he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from NYSDEA for his his vast experience as an Educator, Performer, Choreographer, Producer and Administrator.  He recently received an Outstanding Leadership Award in PreK-12 from NDEO and his school  was was one of the first NYC Public schools to be named a DEL LAB School by the Dance Education Lab of the 92nd Street Y.