Jan spent many years as a dancer and choreographer before turning her hand to acting and playwriting.
Her one-woman theatre shows Standing on my Hands and Here’s Hilda! toured extensively throughout New Zealand. The latter was nominated for a Chapman Tripp Award in 2006. Her play Double Portrait: Finding Frances Hodgkins has toured around New Zealand being presented mainly in art galleries. Dancing In The Wake about the life of James Joyce's daughter, Lucia Joyce, was first presented in 2012 at the Wellington Fringe Festival and has since toured New Zealand.
In the 1990s she choreographed and co-directed three groundbreaking dance theatre works with fellow directors, Sunny Amey and Keri Kaa – Wahine Toa, Takitoru (Chapman Tripp Award), and Sing Whale! He Apakura Tohora.
When she is not writing and acting Jan directs and choreographs Crows Feet Dance Collective, Wellington’s unique community dance group for mature performers.