Although she is still in the middle of the grieving process, Janike is now cancer-free. And her career is still booming. She has almost 300,000 followers on Instagram alone and that number is growing explosively. She is also booked at all kinds of parties and festivals, both nationally and internationally. In the Netherlands she can soon be seen at the Liberation Festival in Groningen, Solar Festival, Latin Village and perhaps Lowlands.
Her videos and acts stand out because JEA and her friends are dancing hard behind the turntable. That has everything to do with the dance background of Assense. “I attended Lucia Marthas’ dance academy in Groningen,” she says. “And I worked as a professional dancer for TV for a few years, for example for The Voice. For me, music is only good music if I can really let loose.”
The first steps of her career were taken in the Jan Postema dance studio in Assen, where JEA lived from the age of 8 to 18. “I’ve been taking lessons here since I was 12 and I’ve been teaching since I was 15. So this is a very important place for me, where I really developed myself as a beginning artist and dancer.”
Janike had to undergo another operation in January. She now has silicone breasts, which she can’t get used to yet. “I don’t like it yet,” she says. “I haven’t had time to accept that I look like this now, but I’m sure I will.” Her focus now is mainly on the music. She has big plans for the future, such as releasing her own music. “Eventually I want to fly everywhere on a private jet, with a whole crew,” she says. “That’s the dream. So that’s what I’m working towards.”
Watch the video about JEA’s special story below:
