Julie Friedrich’s distinguished career as a professional dancer, mentor, and dance educator in the areas of ballet and contemporary dance spans more than 20 years. Julie received her primary dance education from Meredith Baylis of the Joffrey Ballet School and the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts. Upon graduation, Julie joined the American Repertory Ballet under the direction of Septime Webre; and then went onto join Les Grands Ballets Canadiens in Montreal under the direction of Lawrence Rhodes.  Discovering her passion for contemporary dance during her time with Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, she made the move to Europe where she danced professionally for five years. In Europe she had the opportunity to dance with Compagnia Zappala Danza and Teatro di Bari. Throughout her career she has danced works by George Balanchine, Anthony Tudor, Ohad Naharin, Septime Webre, Nacho Duato, Guy Weizman, Roberto Zappala, and various other European and American choreographers. Upon returning to the United States, Julie joined the acclaimed contemporary dance company BodyTraffic as one of its founding members, where she danced for the last three years of her professional dancing career. Julie taught for over a decade at both the Orange County High School for the Arts and the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts. During her time at both schools, along with teaching ballet and contemporary, she created the senior seminar course, a class that prepared students for entrance into college. At both of the arts high schools, Julie was the lead senior seminar advisor to all of the graduating dance students going into the professional and collegiate world of dance.  Through her guidance, Julie has numerous Young Arts winners and her students have gone on to study at the Juilliard School, USC/Kaufman, SUNY Purchase, Arts Umbrella, Cal Arts, Tisch at NYU, and Pace University just to name a few. Professionally, she has former students working in such companies as ATE9, Kyle Abraham, Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, Cirque Du Soleil, and on Broadway. In 2012 Julie was featured in the documentary film “Fame High” for her mentorship of Grace Song, the first Korean American female to be admitted in dance to the Juilliard School. In 2013, through the Young Arts Foundation, President Obama and the White House named Julie one of the most influential arts teachers in the country for her mentorship of young dancers. Currently, Julie serves on the performing arts faculty at the Windward School in Culver City, where she teaches, directs, and curates the dance program. In 2021-2022, along with her full time work at Windward, she will serve as ballet faculty for Danceology and Westside Dance Project. Since 2012 she has been an integral part of the artistic team at Francisco Gella Dance Works. In 2019, Julie was named the artistic associate of career and college programs for all of FGDW. Through her work with FGDW she has been a lead faculty member at the New Century Dance Project, New Year’s Training Camp, and Ballet Plus Miami. In 2016 Francisco and Julie created the Pre Professional Dancers Institute, a five day program they direct, serving the highest level of young artists in the nation. Most recently she has been involved with the creation, implementation, and teaching of the Tech Trio, a virtual training program under the umbrella of FGDW. Julie continues her work mentoring students in preparation for their entrance into the collegiate world through her College Preparatory Program that has developed into a nationwide program serving students and families.