JANESSA ROCHÉ - The Rebel Kitty

In the late 1980's at just three years old, Janessa Roché started singing and dancing on stage in Diamond Bar, California. She was a member of The Sunshine Generation and took ballet classes for nine years, along with many years of jazz, tap, and collegiate dance classes. Janessa first started teaching dance while still in elementary school, and was excused from lessons to teach The Macarena during gym class. Janessa had interest in Musical Theatre as well, and by the mid-1990’s, she auditioned for A Christmas Carol in Sandpoint, Idaho. She was given the role of Ghost of Christmas Future along with the honor of Best Actress. 

Janessa was unable to read music until middle school, when she learned to play the flute and became first chair in her class. In high school, Janessa was placed in Mixed Choir, advanced to Concert Choir, and then invited to join the all-female Competitive Jazz Performing Choir by senior year. She was voted Most Inspirational of all three of these choirs in 2003, an honor given to only one senior each year, by peer vote.

While on an Official NCAA Visit for a full-ride softball scholarship offer for college, Janessa auditioned for Henderson State's Concert Choir and in addition received a choir scholarship to learn Handel’s Messiah. Janessa received scholarships for all three: Academics, Softball and Choir. Janessa was selected by audition to be a member of the Mid-Columbia Mastersingers, and performed on Titanic the Musical as a Stewardess in Kennewick, Washington. She then joined the Southern Star Chorus Sweet Adelines of Pueblo, Colorado in 2015. 

In choir, Janessa rarely sang the melody due to her extraordinarily deep range which places her as a Tenor. By 2017, she began working on lead vocals by supporting as many karaoke shows as possible in Colorado Springs, Pueblo, and Pueblo West, Colorado. Janessa could no longer avoid the inevitable, took a leap of faith, and joined her first band Decades Live Music in Fall of 2022. From this experience, she was able to create her own band and brand, Rebel Kitty, in Spring of 2024. She is also the artist and creator of the Rebel Kitty Logo.

Janessa has been teaching Aqua Zumba at the YMCA of Pueblo since 2017. Janessa bartends and is a KJ/DJ/Emcee for SoCool Sound Services, LLC. Janessa is also a Case Manager and teaches Group Therapy at a Mental Heath Outpatient Facility to include addiction and Art Therapy, and has 33 Master’s hours in Clinical Mental Health Counseling with a 4.0 GPA. She was ranked nationally in DII Toughest to Strike Out.