Jessica Feltman grew up in San Luis Obispo, studied at the local Academy of Dance and graduated from San Luis Obispo High School in 2004.
A San Luis Obispo woman is one of the stars of a new reality dance show on cable television.
Jessica Feltman, 22, is one of a dozen featured performers in the show “Step It Up and Dance,” which airs Thursdays at 10 p. m. on Bravo.
The show, set to run a few months, captures the dancers and their lives offstage as they compete for $100,000.
The 12 contestants are asked to perform in a variety of ways, including music video-style dance and Las Vegas burlesque. They’re judged by professional choreographers, and only one person will win.
Feltman grew up in San Luis Obispo, studied at the local Academy of Dance and graduated from San Luis Obispo High School in 2004.
When the show’s premiere aired last Thursday, Feltman and her family gathered around the TV set with friends.
“I got a lot of face time, which was really exciting,” she said. “It was funny to see myself on television.”
Feltman — who lives in Avila Beach — graduated in June with a bachelor’s degree in dance from UC Santa Barbara. After college, she pursued several dance auditions in Los Angeles, including the try-out for the Bravo show.
“They clearly wanted to see me dance, but they also asked me about my feelings about certain things, what’s hard about dance, how you work your butt off,” Feltman said. “It was kind of nice, because usually you don’t talk about those things. You just dance.”
The program is a competition hosted by Elizabeth Berkley, who played Jessie in the show“Saved By the Bell.” Berkley also starred in the 1995 film “Showgirls,” often listed among the worst movies ever made.
Feltman isn’t allowed to reveal the outcome of “Step It Up and Dance.” But she calls the experience amazing, almost a dream now that she’s back in town.
The filming took place in Los Angeles, where the dancers were housed for a couple of months and faced cameras constantly.
Some days, Feltman said, they woke at 6 a. m. with cameras filming and went to bed well after midnight.
Feltman said she was the only contestant from a small town — the rest live in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. But unlike some reality show personalities, she’s not one to stir things up.
“I want everybody to like me,” she said. “I don’t like confrontation.”
As for possible benefits to her career, Feltman said she’d be open to any opportunities. She has grown tired of auditioning for professional dance jobs in Los Angeles and hopes to settle into a more stable life.
“As far as going back to the auditions and the rat race, I don’t want to do that,” she said. “But I’d be stoked if something came out of the show — even teaching. Really, anything would be phenomenal.”
Feltman works full-time as a manager at Urban Outfitters in San Luis Obispo.
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