The Florrie Flamingo© Flash Cards were created by Jessica Clayton as a way to make learning Ballet Terminology fun and memorable for the youngest of dancers. After the Flash Cards were created, Jessica also wanted to write a Children's Book with the same fun and fanciful Flamingo Character that was depicted on the Flash Cards. So Florrie's Frozen Adventure was written. After her first book, Jessica went on to write two more books in the series including Florrie Flamingo's ABC's of Dance and Florrie Flamingo's First Ballet Class. Jessica partnered with her mom, and illustrator, Lori Clayton to bring Florrie Flamingo and her friends to life! 

 

Jessica Clayton has an extensive career in ballet performance and teaching. Jessica studied extensively and received the bulk of her training at the Academy of Colorado Ballet. There she received exceptional training in the Vaganova method. Jessica was blessed with many performance opportunities at the Academy of Colorado Ballet. Performing with the studio company and appearing in Company productions. Jessica also trained at the Vail Summer Dance Intensive, the ABT summer intensive, and Colorado Ballet’s Summer Intensive Program for 3 summers. After her pre-professional training, Jessica moved on to dance professionally for seven seasons with Ballet Ariel in Denver, CO where she found fulfillment in performing numerous featured roles in both classical and contemporary productions. Jessica still performs, mostly in musical theater productions, at community theaters around the Denver Metro area all while owning and operating her many dance businesses. For ten years Jessica has owned and operated Dance Exploration, LLC a non-competitive in-school dance program offered to children as a before and after school program. While operating Dance Exploration, LLC, Jessica created the ‘Dance to Learn!’® Curriculum which is a whole-child approach to dance education. Jessica is currently working to complete a comprehensive online Dance Educator Certification program for the ‘Dance to Learn!’® Curriculum so other teachers can bring the joy of dance to children in their school environments. Jessica has always wanted to have a kid-friendly character accompany her classes to make learning ballet and the terminology more engaging and fun. That’s how Florrie Flamingo© was born.