Meet Diane

Level 4 Certified Essentrics® Teacher - Creative Aging in Dance Teaching Artist - Tapping Guide and Healing Modalities - Founder, Executive/Artistic Director Emeritus, Dancewave

Diane Jacobowitz (BFA, Ohio State University; MFA, Connecticut College) has a distinguished career in performing, choreography and arts administration. She has taught dance to youth and adults of all ages and backgrounds for 26 years at numerous institutions including professional studios, public and private schools and colleges and universities. At Long Island University, Brooklyn, where she taught as a Dance professor for 9 years, she was instrumental in establishing the Dance Major program.

Diane choreographed and directed her own company, the Diane Jacobowitz Dance Theater for 15 years, during which time, the company toured, performed and engaged in residencies throughout the Northeast and performed at BAM in 1992. Diane has also performed with several prominent choreographers including Kenneth King, Marta Renzi, and Annabelle Gamson. In 1995, she founded Dancewave with the mission of bringing dance to a broad spectrum of the city youth population, particularly to those talented dancers who lacked the means to afford pre-professional training. Her main focus has been working with young people as artists in the making and connecting them early to professional artistry, and offering training and mentorship with world renowned dance artists.

As Dancewave’s Founder and Artistic/Executive Director for the organization’s first 25 years, Diane developed innovative programming to capture the talents and imagination of young dancers. A few of the many programs she developed include the Dancewave Company model, Dancewave Through College and Beyond, the Dance Career Symposium, Strategies for Young Artist Citizens and the Kids Cafe Festival. Through Diane’s persistent efforts, New York City and other generous donors funded the building and renovation of Dancewave’s new home in Gowanus Brooklyn in 2019.

Diane is taking a break from teaching and spending Summer of 2022 recuperating from HipReplacement Surgery and exploring the best ways to heal from this surgery so that she comes out stronger and pain-free. You can folllow her journey on the blog page of this site fitness empowerment.online/blog. She will resume live classes again in Fall 2022.