JENNIFER BACKHAUS

Founder and artisic Director

Jennifer Backhaus, founder, and artistic director of  Backhausdance, has been the energetic and creative force spearheading the development and growth of Orange County’s critically-acclaimed contemporary dance company and also serves on the dance faculty at Chapman University. A life-long learner, she holds a BFA in Communications and Dance from Chapman University, and received her MFA in Choreography from Hollins University.

From the inception of the company as a non-profit organization in 2003, Jennifer has been committed to choreographing and producing the fine art of contemporary concert dance with a professional company while simultaneously designing and implementing an extensive dance education and performance program for all ages. Featuring deeply human and emotional creations that are infused with a sense of humor, athleticism and theatricality, Backhausdance has received numerous awards and honors, including Outstanding Arts Organization by Arts Orange County in 2012, and recognized by Chapman University with the 2017 Distinguished Alumni Award as well as Alumni of the Year in 2007 for her artistic leadership of Backhausdance. As an award-winning and in-demand choreographer, Jennifer’s works have been commissioned and produced by Brigham Young University, Chapman University, Los Angeles Ballet, McCallum Theatre, Segerstrom Center for the Arts, TDC of the Bay Area and Utah Regional Ballet, among others.

Many of Jennifer’s works have been honored by Regional Dance America, and her piece Disintegration was selected for national performances with the American College Dance Festival at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. For Backhausdance, she has created numerous works which have received ten Lester Horton Awards from Dance Resource Center of Los Angeles for Outstanding Achievement in choreography, design, and performance. At the McCallum Theatre’s Dance Under the Stars Choreography Festival, Jennifer has been the recipient of three consecutive choreography awards for her work with Backhausdance.

Amanda Kay White is a founding/current member and associate artistic director of Backhausdance. After finding her voice first as a performer with Backhausdance, she is honored to contribute to the company beyond the stage. She has created site-sensitive works for Backhausdance since 2019 which challenge spatial perceptions and create intimate experiences for audience members.

Amanda Kay White’s creative research delves into the entanglement of bodily knowledge, embodied cognition, and spatial theory through the medium of choreography. Finding points of access to these physical collections of experience and memory makes her work strikingly inventive. Her creations have been showcased at Highways Performance Space, Orange County Museum of Art, Pasadena Dance Festival, Oulu Dance Hack, Centro Negra, Chapman Touring Company, University of Tampa, American College Dance Festival, and the Wayward Artist. Amanda is currently on faculty at Santa Ana College, Chapman University, Orange County School of the Arts, and South Coast Conservatory. 

In 2009 she founded Compass Dance Company, a pre-professional contemporary dance company for emerging artists ages 14 and up. By engaging, expressing, and innovating Compass Dance Company reaches out to the community through dance.