Gissel took her first dance class when she was 6 years old, finally putting her leotard and ballet slippers to use after years of twirling and jumping around her house and the aisles of every grocery store. She trained in jazz, ballet, tap, and lyrical at Sheri’s Born to Dance in San Jose for 6 years and then joined IndepenDance Co. while in high school. It was in I-Dance where she was introduced to the wonderful world of modern dance and had the opportunity to learn and perform Limón technique under the mentorship of Gary Masters. As a dancer and choreographer for the company, she was also awarded ‘Best All Around Dancer’.
She continued to dance at Mills College during her undergrad years, where she majored in Biology and minored in Dance, studying Paul Taylor repertoire under Rachel Berman, and Alexander technique under Shelly Senter. She performed with the Mills Repertory Dance Co. as well as several other performances within the BA and MFA dance programs.
After nearly 8 years away from performing, Gissel is over the moon excited to not only be rehearsing in a dance studio again, but to be surrounded by such passionate, talented, and fun-loving individuals.