Jessie Sijie Zhang (张思婕) is a contemporary dance artist born in Fuzhou, China, and now based in Vancouver, Canada. Raised in a city surrounded by mountains and rivers, she moved to Canada over a decade ago, where she found home and community through dance.
Jessie began her dance training in Chinese folk dance before developing a versatile movement practice spanning contemporary, hip hop, street dance, heels, jazz, ballet, and beyond. Her global and intercultural experiences continue to shape her artistic voice. Drawn to themes of identity, belonging, human connection, and the complexities of relationships, she approaches movement with a deep sensitivity to musicality, allowing rhythm, texture, and time to shape her creative process.
“Rhythm, texture, and time shape the process.”
She holds a Bachelor's degree in Intersectional Gender Studies, which continues to deepen her artistic perspective and inform the stories she tells through movement. Her early background in stage management and theatre production also informs her approach to creation.
She is a recent graduate of the Modus Operandi Contemporary Dance Program under the direction of Tiffany Tregarthen and David Raymond, with assistant directors Kate Franklin and Maiko Miyauchi. During her time there, Jessie collaborated with and performed works by Anne Plamondon, Adam Khazhmuradov, Mariko Kakizaki, Yi-Chun Liu, Ella Rothschild, Vanessa Goodman, Eric Cheung, and Out Innerspace. She has continued her artistic development through programs including Springboard Danse Pittsburgh, the B12 Summer Festival in Berlin, GagaLab, and the Jacob Jonas Summer Intensive.
Jessie's performance experience spans stage, film, television, and community-based work in Canada and internationally. Her diverse career has included competing with Northside under the direction of Adrian Vendiola and Kelvin Tu, performing with Style & Grace, working as a skeleton dancer in K-pop music videos, teaching at Studio North in Vancouver, and collaborating on dance films and local performance projects. She has also performed at the SYNCNEXT 25 Contemporary Festival in Seoul, collaborating with Haeni Kim and Kristián Mensa (Mr. Kriss).
She will join Ballet BC Annex for the 2026/27 season while continuing to develop an artistic practice rooted in collaboration, research, and interdisciplinary creation. Through performance, choreography, and creative partnerships, she seeks to foster connection, curiosity, and a deeper understanding of one another.
