Julie’s love for dance began as a child in Ogden, Utah. She received the William Christensen Scholarship to attend the U of U to train under their esteemed faculty. While attending the U of U she began teaching their outreach classes and found her desire to teach young children to dance and perform.

In 1969, she purchased the ballet school from William Christensen and Bene Arnold and opened what is now known as the Children’s Ballet Theatre.

Julie believed that children could only develop a true love for ballet when taught correct technique and through quality performances. Her principal aim for CBT became training a high calibre of dancers and choreographing quality performances for children to participate in so that they could develop a true love and passion for the performing arts.