Our Personable, Knowledgeable and Friendly Staff
Ruthena
Ruthena has been the sole owner of Grand Jeté since she opened the store in 1983.
Paula
Paula has been at Grand Jeté since December of 1999, accruing years of expertise in dancewear and specializing in managing inventory and creating special orders for customers.
Grace
Grace began dancing when she was four at Johnny Cavelle Dance Studio in South Dakota.
Jen
Jen grew up in Prior Lake, MN and danced at Premier Dance Academy for 10 years.
Emily
Emily grew up in the Twin Cities, where she began her dance training from an early age. She has trained at various studios across town.
Georgia
Georgia comes to Grand Jeté after serving as the 2017-18 Advancement Director for Minnesota Dance Theatre. She has over 30 years in the nonprofit industry, specifically in dance, education, and development.
Ruthena
Owner

Paula
Administrative Assistant

Grace
Ballroom and Marketing Manager
Grace began dancing when she was four at Johnny Cavelle Dance Studio in South Dakota. She studied ballet, tap, jazz, character, celtic and pointe and passed her Cecchetti exams through Grade IV. Grace earned her bachelor’s degree in Piano Performance with a Spanish minor and teaches piano and performs professionally in the Twin Cities. In 2011, Grace began training as a competitive ballroom dancer at Cinema Ballroom in St. Paul, MN. She competed successfully in both amateur and pro/am partnerships locally and nationally before accepting a pro partnership and pursuing a career as an instructor at Cinema Ballroom. Grace now teaches full time at Cinema and competes both professionally and with her students across the United States. Grace has been at Grand Jeté since 2011 and is the ballroom and marketing manager as well as an administrative assistant.
Jen
Team Member
Jen grew up in Prior Lake, MN and danced at Premier Dance Academy for 10 years. At Premier, she received training in ballet and pointe. In 2017, her family moved to St. Paul, and she currently attends the Saint Paul Conservatory for Performing Arts. At school she is transitioning into the instrumental track so she can focus on training on the guitar.
Emily
Team Member
Emily grew up in the Twin Cities, where she began her dance training from an early age. She has trained at various studios across town, including Dance Spectrum, Saint Paul Conservatory for Performing Arts, Minnesota Dance Theatre, and Classical Ballet Academy. Emily recently graduated from the University of Utah with a BFA in Ballet and a BS in Writing & Rhetoric Studies. She danced in many productions there, one of her favorites being contemporary choreographer Gabrielle Lamb’s “Springload”. She is excited to dance as an apprentice with the Twin Cities Ballet for the 2019-2020 season.
Georgia
Team Member
Georgia comes to Grand Jeté after serving as the 2017-18 Advancement Director for Minnesota Dance Theatre. She has over thirty years in the nonprofit industry, specifically in dance, education and development. Georgia, founder of Saint Paul City Ballet (renamed St. Paul Ballet in 2014), continued its growth and development for sixteen years, garnering foundation and corporate support. Georgia developed two ballet outreach programs in Saint Paul that are still active. She was actively engaged in the Saint Paul business community and president of the Grand Avenue Business Association for three years. Georgia currently works with her husband, helping market his business, Danceprints. She is a firm believer that the arts, in partnership with corporate, business and community support, augment the economy of a city and increase the vitality and aesthetic beauty of its community.