Melanie Jaramillo fell in love with dance in 1997 after seeing a Salsa competition and immediately began training and performing with Salsa master Sergio Nunez. In 1998 she was introduced to Modern Dance by Terri Shipman and never looked back. Melanie performed with San Diego's Forward to Breath Dance Company for 3 years. Melanie received her Masters Degree in Healing Science and worked as a trauma counselor and somatic therapist for 6 years. She is currently a photographer and owns Essence Photography in Grass Valley. She also teaches Salsa classes at Echappe, and has also taught Modern and Ballet classes. Currently, Melanie enjoys searching for fairies with her daughter Madeline.