Janice Hart Braithwaite’s passion for dance was sparked in her junior year of high school, when she chose dance as her required physical activity, because regular gym classes were boring. After taking liberal arts courses at New York City Community College, she transferred to Hunter College and majored in Dance. During her last semester, Janice met Charles Moore while auditioning for Professor Pearl Primus and the opportunity to learn the entire choreography to “War Dance.” Charles invited Janice to attend his classes at the Hanson Place Church in Brooklyn, and soon asked her to join his newly forming dance company, which also rehearsed at Clark Center for the Performing Arts. Janice and Audrey became dance Sistahs as founding members of Charles Moore Dance Theater.

Janice taught dance at the College of Old Westbury, and collaborated with dance historian, Joe Nash, to create the modern dance curriculum there, eventually adding a dance history course. After fourteen years, Janice left the college but went on to teach in the NYC Public School System for over twenty years. In 1995, Janice and Ramona Candy, her friend and dance Sistah, founded Cultural Crossroads, a dance school for children based at the Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church in Brooklyn, which offered African, Caribbean, Modern, Ballet and Jazz classes. During the annual student recitals, Janice also orchestrated the costuming. MoJazz Dance ensemble joyfully performed as guest artists in the Cultural Crossroads recitals, marveling at how many dances the students performed, as they admired that we were still dancing as adults.

Janice was a firm believer in MoJazz Dance, championing what we had to express as a group of women of a certain age and joined the ensemble in 2006. After a lull in performances, Janice strongly encouraged Audrey to expand our exposure, stating regularly during class routines, “People need to see this!” Janice introduced Audrey to organizers of Women’s Press Collective, which led to annual performances in their International Women’s Day Celebration since 2014 and sparked many more engagements.

In the summer of 2017, Janice began treatment for a rare form of endometrial cancer. She steadfastly continued performances, rehearsals, classes, and social celebrations through Fall of 2018. Janice danced her way to heaven on January 1, 2019. MoJazz Ladies are forever grateful for her serene and thoughtful presence, her vibrant smile, laughter, and energy, her love and support. Keep Dancing Guardian Angel.