Jake is a native of Winston‐Salem, NC. He began his training at the Wake Forest Community Ballet under Brantley Shapiro, and then later went on to attend high school at North Carolina School of the Arts where he studied with faculty Nina Danilova (Kirov Ballet), Brenda Daniels (The Cunningham Company), Dianne Markham (Nikolais/Louis), and Sean Sullivan (The Limón Company), to name a few.

 

Jake is an alumnus of The Juilliard School, where he was a pupil of Alexandra Wells (Ballet Jazz Montreal), Andra Corvino (New Jersey Dance Theater Ensemble), Terese Capucilli (The Martha Graham Company), and Francisco Martinez (Nacho Duato works). Upon leaving Juilliard, Jake began a pursuit in circus arts and physical theater. He is an alumnus of The Stella Adler Studio of Acting, and of Circus Warehouse, training under former Cirque du Soleil stars Anna Venizelos and Matthew Cusick, and Olympic champion Olga Karmansky. He has also attended the École Nationale de Cirque in Montreal. Jake has performed with Larry Keigwin, Alonzo King LINES Ballet, Mark Dendy and Dancers, and has also performed in new works with circus theater companies Only Child Aerial Theatre and Constellation Moving Company.

 

Jake joined MOMIX in June of 2014. He has taught at various studios before finally settling down in his home at DESPA in January of 2021.