Newspapers / Elon University Student Newspaper / Oct. 1, 2012, edition 1 / Page 12
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“I mainly started (dancing) because my older sister danced and I wanted to be just like her,” Julie said. Janet was nervous about letting her daughter danoe until Ann Carroll, the owner of Ann Carroll School of Dance in Franklin, Tenn., told her if Julie wanted to dance, she should let her. Niki Pennington, the head instructor of the lyrical department at the school since 1999, had never encountered someone with a prosthesis before Julie enrolled in her class. Pennington started teaohing Julie around age 7 or 8. Neither Julie nor her parents ever asked for special treafment. “She just kind of blended in with every body and she was truly a phenomenal kid,” Pennington said. Although Julie was determined to let nothing get in her way, there were still some things in dance that were difficult for her. Nonetheless, in 2003, she was a toy soldier in the Nashville Ballet’s rendition of ‘The Nutcracker.” “We had to danoe with the cane, holding it together, for half the number and then once the rats broke it, we had to hold it in two pieces in both hands,” Julie said. She was worried that she wasn’t going to be able perform the role to the same level as everyone else, but with the help of the cho reographer, rehearsal director and a helpful amount of Velcro, they made it work. Among Julie’s family, friends and profes sors, she’s known for fhree things: being de termined, funny and caring toward everyone. “I liked her immediately,” said Jane Well- ford, professor of performing arts at Bon. Wellford first met Julie at spring orientation before Julie’s freshman year at Elon. She de scribed Julie as personable, outgoing, sweet and well mannered. “Yes, I couldn’t help but notice that she had a prosthesis, but when I started teaching her in classes, I noticed there was absolutely nothing different about her than any other person at all,” Wellford said. In a piece Wellford choreographed in the fall, she required the dancers to do a series of physical movements, including catching each other. It was a strenuous dance that involved a lot of contact improvisation. “It was hard enough for someone with two whole arms,” Wellford said. “She was always so determined and wouldn’t let any body down or show any sign of weakness,” Wellford said. “Never ever.” For Pennington, it was tough when Julie graduated high school because the two had become so close. “She inspired me on a daily basis with her positive energy and her perseverance,” Pen nington said. “She is an amazing individual and I am honored to have been her teacher and herfrienci.” Elon alumna and fellow dance major Jess Duffy couldn’t stop praising Julie and her determina tion. “It’s her attitude that shows me her drive and passion,” Duffy said, “It’s really inspiring.” One time when Duffy was on tech for black box with Julie, they were cleaning up the set and Julie was messing around with the push broom, pretending to be struggling as she pushed with only one arm, The stage manager noticed what Julie was doing and said, “You know it would help if you had two arms.” “It was silent for a while but then Julie says something like, 'I just have the one!’ and everyone started laughing, well, except for the stage manager of course,” Duffy said. Julie shows her humor about her miss ing arm all the time. Sometimes she plays pranks on people - her youth minister at church would go around telling people that Julie only shook hands with her left hand. i Once people would grab her hand, she would pull away so that her arm would detach itself. As Julie grew as a dancer and showed her determination and love for the art, Janet grew out of her wariness of letting her dance and knew she made the right decision. “I think initially I was scared her arm might fall off,” Janet said. “I love watching her dance, as any mother would. It’s an extra special level with Julie because her road hasn’t been as easy as some.” Julie, who was the fastest typist in her fourth grade keyboarding class,despite missing five fingers, never let her disability stand in her way. She even wants to open her own dance studio someday so she can teach others how to live the dream of being a dancer. “Being different than everyone else, espe cially in the dance world, there’s tons of times I could have made an excuse, and been like,^ ‘I can’t do that because I don’t have an arm, but not letting anything stop me and not get ting stuck when something isn’t going right is the thing keeping me going,” Julie said, as a smile spread across her face.
Elon University Student Newspaper
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Oct. 1, 2012, edition 1
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