Jennifer Welch Cudnik is a native of St. Louis and studied with teachers Berkeley Evans, Nathalie LeVine, and Alexandra Zaharias. At age 15, she moved to New York City to study on full scholarship at the School of American Ballet’s year-round program. There she studied under renowned teachers Stanley Williams, Kay Mazzo, and Suki Schorer, among others. She performed in ballets by George Balanchine, August Bournonville, and originated roles in ballets by Christopher Wheeldon and Damien Woetzel. While in New York, Jennifer attended the Professional Children’s School. PCS works with young people who are pursuing careers or rigorous pre-professional training while attending this college preparatory school. Jennifer spent summers training on full scholarship with the School of American Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, and the State Ballet of Missouri (now Kansas City Ballet).         

Upon graduation from the School of American Ballet, Jennifer was offered a position dancing professionally with the Pennsylvania Ballet, under the direction of Roy Kaiser. She performed in numerous classical and neo-classical ballets while in the company including Swan Lake, Coppelia, the Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella, as well as Balanchine’s the Four Temperaments and Who Cares? Jennifer returned home to St. Louis in 2003 and was invited to join the Saint Louis Ballet. As a principal dancer with SLB, Jennifer’s roles included Waltz Girl and Russian in Balanchine's SERENADE, the principal in ALLEGRO BRILLANTE, principal in VALSE FANTAISIE, and principal in DIVERTIMENTO NO. 15, principal roles in Dennis Nahat's BRAHMS QUINTET, Francis Patrelle's SWAN LAKE and RHAPSODY IN BLUE. She was featured as the Sugar Plum Fairy, Dew Drop Fairy, lead Marzipan and Spanish lead in THE NUTCRACKER, the title role in GISELLE, and as Aurora in the SLEEPING BEAUTY. 

Jennifer was a teacher of the beginning, intermediate and advanced students at the Saint Louis Ballet School from 2003 to June 2009. Her classes included ballet technique, pointe, variations, pas de deux, body placement, stage make-up and stage hair. She regularly choreographed new works on her students for the end of the year workshop performances at SLBS. In 2008, Jennifer was invited by the Montana Ballet to be a guest teacher and a guest artist for their summer intensive.

In July of 2009, Jennifer formed the 501 (c) 3 nonprofit organization Ballet Initiative. BI’s mission is to raise the profile of dance in the Saint Louis community through preservation, promotion, and the presentation of affordable exposure and access to quality ballet. As the Director of Ballet Initiative, Jennifer regularly teaches and coaches students in the hopes that it will help to cultivate future audiences for the performing arts in the St. Louis community. Jennifer felt this organization needed to be established so that she could do her part of giving back to the community, as part of the mission is to educate people of all backgrounds in the art of ballet through lecture demonstrations, classes and performances. Jennifer and her students recently performed with the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra at Powell Hall in excerpts from the Nutcracker as part of their education and outreach programs. Currently, Jennifer is teaching, coaching, and choreographing independently throughout the Saint Louis area.

Jennifer has been featured in the Philadelphia Inquirer, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Ladue News, Suburban Journal and St. Louis Magazine. She has been a guest on WMMR in Philadelphia, NPR’s All Things Considered, KTRS 550, KMOV news,  and HEC-TV.

Jennifer believes in preserving the etiquette and tradition of the art form of ballet and enjoys passing along the teachings of her influences and mentors. She is committed to her hometown of Saint Louis and wants to share her passion for dance throughout the community in order to help sustain the love of the art form for generations to come.