Janet (Jan) Johnson As the founder and director of the Ormao Dance Company, Jan has brought professional contemporary dance to Colorado Springs. She has introduced noted choreographers to the company and given young, emerging choreographers fertile ground to launch exciting new works. As a choreographer, Jan is a four-time recipient of the Pikes Peak Arts Council Award for Excellence in Choreography. As a teacher she prioritizes cultivating curiosity in her students and creating a community, collective experience of challenges where everyone can excel. After studying at the University of Wisconsin, Jan began dancing, teaching and choreographing in a variety of companies until founding Ormao Dance Company in 1990. Her belief in the inclusive nature of dance has created a company with depth of artistic expression, brilliance of technical skill, and given the Colorado Springs community a professional contemporary dance company to call their own.