Biography

Jillana Laufer was born to professional dancer parents and weaned in a ballet studio. She traveled with her family to Barcelona and Paris, embracing dance, music, academia and foreign culture. After graduating high school, she became a principal dancer at the Lido in Paris and also performed in Monte Carlo. Upon her return to the States, the great Tommy Tune brought her to Broadway in the original company of The Will Rogers Follies. From there, she entered the pantheon of Broadway dancers with roles in The Best Little Whorehouse Goes Public and Sunset Boulevard. She then met legendary Ann Reinking, who cast her in a Victoria Secret commercial and as Hunyak in the musical Chicago. Over the course of many years, Jillana has performed in Chicago's Broadway, first national and international companies. She also toured with the first national companies of The Producers and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. In 2000, Jillana moved from Manhattan to Los Angeles where she met her wonderful husband. She has since pursued film and TV as well as dance, with roles in such movies as The Artist (winner of the 2012 Academy Award for Best Picture), and Little Fockers with Dustin Hoffman. Most recently, Tony-nominated Liesl Tommy cast Jillana as Gerda in the acclaimed new musical Frozen, currently playing at Disney's Hyperion Theater.