Julie Johnson

Julie B. Johnson is a dance artist focused on community interaction through choreography, education, performance, and collaboration. She conducts collaborative dance residencies with various community organizations; teaches dance technique and creative movement classes for all ages and skill levels; and presents choreography throughout New York, Philadelphia, and beyond.  She has taught as a guest artist at Spelman College in Atlanta, and at the 2013 ACDF Northeast Regional conference in New York.  In 2008, Julie was awarded a scholarship to attend the Jacob's Pillow Choreographers Lab.  Her work "Out of Our Hands" was presented at the 2011 MixMatch Festival in Los Angeles and the 2011 Westfest Dance Festival in New York City.  Julie is a founding member of Evolve Dance Inc., a nonprofit contemporary dance organization with bases in New York and Arizona, and served as an Artistic Director from 2006-2013.  Together with Evolve Dance, she produced the Evolve Dance Festival from 2007-2012; and co-founded and directed the Y Dance Program, a comprehensive dance training program for children, teens, and adults.  Her ongoing work with Evolve Dance includes the development of collaborative international dance and cultural interchange programs.  In 2009, Julie traveled to Ghana for a month-long exchange with Accra Artisans Exchange and the Ghana Cultural Ballet.  During the summer of 2013, she traveled to Vietnam for the first phase of Evolve Dance’s partnership with Pacific Links Foundation to establish dance programs for shelters of survivors of human trafficking.  

In 2012, she relocated to Philadelphia to pursue a PhD in Dance at Temple University.  Since arriving in Philadelphia, she has presented choreography at Conwell Dance Theater and the Performance Garage.  She established the Throughline Collective with artist Colleen Hooper, and co-produced their first production, Collapse/Intersect, as part of the 2013 FringeArts Festival in Philadelphia.

Julie trained in dance at renowned institutions, including Baltimore School for the Arts, The Ailey School, and the Dance Conservatory at SUNY Purchase.  She earned a BA in Dance with a pedagogy concentration from Marymount Manhattan.  She was awarded a scholarship to attend the 2008 Choreographer's Lab at Jacob's Pillow.  Julie earned an MS in Nonprofit Management and is currently pursuing a PhD in Dance at Temple University.