Julie's School of Dance

"I watched the yearly show a few days ago. What a great entertainment this was! Some people said it was too long but I enjoyed every minute of it. You can’t get tired of fun :) The advanced dancers were like professionals and the youngest ones were just adorable. Seems like Julie put tons of work to put this together. I loved the song choices, the costumes and what a great way to end the show with “Thriller” paying tribute to the greatest dancer/entertainer of all times - Michael Jackson. Good job, Julie! I’ll make sure I’m there for next year’s show."

"A very honest review: What I would say is be cautious and make sure your children are communicating with you about their experiences. It’s only recently I’ve reconnected with friends from my past who also danced at Julie’s that made me realize I wasn’t the only one who dealt with emotional distress and low self esteem from dancing here. I’ve been terrified the past 13-14 years to really talk about it because so many parents praise Julie as a teacher. When you’re in a town as small as Panama City, burning bridges will come around to bite you; you must tread carefully. Also, at the time when all of this was going on and thereafter, Julie attended the same church I did which made it very difficult to validate my feeling as a young teenager. I had 2 classes with Julie my first year. I danced when I was younger as well and had strict teachers but it never crossed the line of what Julie did to me and my self esteem. It didn’t take me long to dread walking into Julie‘s class. I remember one of my first classes we were doing combinations across the floor and when it was my turn, she stopped me halfway and instead of walking me through it, began to mock my dancing. This continued my entire time at this studio. I can write paragraphs regarding how many times she would single me out and make me feel like an absolute idiot for being there. I would go home and cry in my room after classes with her and I never told anyone because she intimidated me. If that wasn’t enough on a constant basis, some of the older high school girls in my lyrical class were actually very nasty to me. They were passive and would call me out for the sake of doing so. We did a lot of floor work in lyrical so I had one black pair of pants I was able to wear that fit into dress code, the only thing that didn’t was the metallic waistband. Any time I wore this, the high school dancers would make it a point to tell Julie it was “distracting them” to which I would with have to find a way to roll the waist band down and not let them fall off or take them off entirely. I would go home with my legs marked up from the wood flooring pulling and stretching the skin on my legs. She saw how they treated me and never stopped it. Julie knew I didn’t have other dance pants because it wasn’t feasible for my mom - instead of being understanding, she would let it happen and just watch. She used to make passive comments to me when my late class was over and my mom wasn’t there to pick me up on time. She would reprimand ME as a child who had no say in it, though my mom did the best she could to be on time. Julie would make comments to me that my mom needed to be more responsible with timing and figure a schedule out. At the time, I knew it hurt me to hear someone talk about my parent that way, but it wasn’t till I was older that I realized the nerve it took saying that to someone’s child. Then there’s the Christmas beach parade. I wasn’t given clear instructions where my mom should pick me up so at the end I was trying to call her to tell her where I was. When Julie questioned when she would be there I told her soon and I would just wait. She then continued to get very visually irritated and told me to get in the car with her and tell my mom where she could meet Julie, the entire time she belittled me with the fact that she was tired of having me always be the last one waiting to get picked up. She singled me out for 2 years and made me feel completely worthless as a dancer and a person, she always seemed annoyed with me for any reason; I was bullied here. Her job was to guide and elevate as a teacher. if you’re child is talented and useful to her, she will treat them wonderfully. If they aren’t as technically versed but have a passion for it, try a few other places. I genuinely hope Julie has changed for the better these days because she would pick favorites, and treat others like we were not worth the time of day; she would mock my dancing at times and all I wanted was her approval. Unfortunately, it still affects my self image to this day and I’ve struggled to see my strengths"

"We have been at Julie's since 2007 - all three of my children have danced only there and 2 still do! My daughter is on the competition team and has had multiple awards and scholarships all due to the training, dedication, time, energy and efforts of Julie and Ashley and staff. Most importantly, they are all about the relationships with our children and families and the life skills of dance. They are constantly evolving and studying new choreography and offering master classes and experiences for all the dancers. The encouragement and right amount of expectation is what has taken Julie's to the professional, positive, award winning level it is!"

"My daughter has danced at Julies School of Dance since 2006. Julie and Ashley have been instrumental in her growth as a dancer as well as a young lady. I was SO excited when the studio moved to a new location. The move allowed the studio to offer more classes that in turn allowed my daughter more opportunity. I can honestly say Julie and Ashley love my daughter as much as I do. It's like a family. They really care and want the best for each student. I have and will continue to tell others about Julies School of Dance."

"My daughter has danced at Julies for 8 years. And the only change we have expierienced is that like every other great business owner her business grew and so did the love. julie and ashley make those GIRLS into LADIES! I thank the heavens for two classy women like Julie and ashley influencing my daughter.Also they added a great addition to the staff in Sheldon as well as the student teachers that are in place.the end result of all the above mentioned peoples hard work along with my daughters drive resulted in a ballet scholarship.so if any family is looking for a great dance studio this is a no brainer!"