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Fifteen years after beginning what would become an extraordinary chapter in Santa Barbara’s wellness community, Josette Roozen Tkacik is bringing 10 days of celebration to the historic Carrillo Ballroom—honoring the people, movement, friendships and community that have shaped the journey.
A former professional dancer, wellness educator and recipient of Congressional recognition for her contributions to health and wellness, Josette has spent more than 15 years creating movement experiences that have reached thousands of people.
But behind the celebration is an extraordinary story of her own.
In 2011, Josette was diagnosed with advanced rheumatoid arthritis and told the disease was incurable and that her future as a dancer had effectively ended.
She refused to accept the prognosis as the conclusion of her story.
Josette ultimately returned to health and movement without pharmaceutical treatment, an experience that profoundly changed not only her life, but her understanding of human potential and the work she would go on to share with others.
“These 15 years are not about me,” Josette says. “I think about the thousands of people who walked through those ballroom doors, the friendships that were formed, the lives that changed, and everything we experienced together. Santa Barbara gave me a place to rebuild my own life while helping other people reconnect with theirs. This celebration is my thank-you.”
15 Years of JOY
The celebration begins Thursday, August 27 at 6:00 p.m. with a FREE community class at the Carrillo Ballroom, offered by Josette as a gift to the community that has supported her for 15 years.
The celebration continues:
Saturday, August 29 at 11:35 a.m.
Master Class with Josette
Carrillo Ballroom
Tuesday, September 1 at 5:30 p.m.
ELEVATE with Josette
Carrillo Ballroom
Saturday, September 5 at 11:35 a.m.
15-Year Grand Finale Celebration
Carrillo Ballroom
For longtime participants, the 10-day celebration will be a reunion. For those who have never experienced one of Josette’s classes, it is an invitation to walk through the ballroom doors and become part of the community.
The anniversary also marks the beginning of Josette’s next chapter.
After more than 15 years centered on movement and wellness, she is expanding her work through writing, speaking and a growing body of work exploring personal authorship, human agency and possibility.
At its center is a distinction born from her own experience:
We may not control every circumstance of our lives. But circumstance does not have to become conclusion.
“Movement was never only about movement,” Josette says. “It was a way back to ourselves. Fifteen years later, I understand that more deeply than I ever have.”
For Josette, this anniversary is more than a celebration of what has been.
It is a homecoming, a thank-you, and the beginning of what comes next.
About Josette Roozen Tkacik
Josette Roozen Tkacik is a former professional dancer, entrepreneur, wellness educator and speaker whose work has reached thousands of people over more than 15 years.
A recipient of Congressional recognition for her contributions to health and wellness education, Josette’s work was profoundly shaped by her own experience recovering from advanced rheumatoid arthritis after being told the disease was incurable.
Today, her work extends beyond movement into a broader exploration of human agency and personal authorship: our capacity to distinguish circumstance from conclusion, inherited beliefs from conscious choices, and to participate more fully in the authorship of our own lives.
