Biography

As an Assyrian woman, mother, educator, dance instructor, choreographer and a performing artist in Santa Cruz County for over 45 years, Johns has experienced firsthand the power of the arts for healing a community and bringing people together. Since she started learning folklorico dance at age 18 as a university student at San Jose State University, she learned from her mentor, Ramon Morones Ortiz, of Guadalajara, Mexico, the importance of learning authentic steps, style and choreography from master instructors and keepers of the traditions of Mexico. When she moved to Watsonville to begin her career as a bilingual educator in 1978, she co-founded Esperanza del Valle and wrote her first Arts Council grant, establishing her folklorico dance class as a performing company in 1980. Esperanza del Valle was the only adult folklorico dance company in the Watsonville community in those early days. Hundreds of dancers have trained, learned, and performed with her company over 44-plus years.

Johns has served on many sub-committees of Arts Council Santa Cruz County (e.g. the Grants Committee, Steering Committee) and currently serves on the commission supporting the Arts in Watsonville. Esperanza del Valle is a partner with the Watsonville Center for the Arts; she has volunteered for 40+ years to find a home for the arts in Watsonville. She volunteered as a founding member of the Watsonville Film Festival for many years and has served as a local artist/dancer instructor for many charitable community organizations.

> Janet has produced annual gala theater performances in the Greater Santa Cruz Tri-County area with Esperanza del Valle, bringing the best of Mexican dance and music to our community for 4+ decades. She is thankful to have worked with amazing fellow artists in the community and Mexico and to have had the opportunity to teach at Cabrillo College, UCSC, CSUMB and PVUSD, share these wonderful resources with students and families in our community. She has offered free lectures, demonstrations and dance classes with visiting master instructors, who visited schools throughout the county and offered classes for our local youth folklorico groups. Collaborating and performing with El Teatro Campesino, Santa Cruz Symphony, Tandy Beal and Company and many more have brought a richness to her life as an artist.

She has received numerous awards and accolades, including a proclamation from the mayor and City of Watsonville in 2020 recognizing her 40 years of leadership with Esperanza del Valle; The Watsonville City Council Mayor’s Award in 2014 in recognition of her leadership in the City of Watsonville; a Gail Rich Award in 2002 for her community service in the arts; and a Calabash Award in 2001 for Excellence in the Ethnic Arts.

Her dance company has performed in Santa Cruz County for over 44 years, donating their time to many local charities and events 15-20 times a year. When the Loma Prieta Earthquake struck in 1989, they collaborated with local artists and produced a performance at the SC County Fairgrounds, as a fundraiser for the Watsonville community. Esperanza del Valle has continued to support the community of Pajaro through the floods of 1995, 1997 and recently in 2023.

She is very proud of her son, Gabriel Johns Robledo, who teaches folklorico and drama at Pajaro Valley High School, inspiring new generations of adolescents to see themselves as artists and agents of change.