CDW Faculty
Julia
Owner / Director
Julia has been teaching and dancing professionally for about 10 years. In that time, she has had the opportunity to perform, choreograph, coach, & teach countless dancers the skills needed to succeed in dance and in ‘real life". Julia grew up training in classical Ballet and Pointe technique. She competed in world wide Ballet competitions, such as YAGP (Youth American Grand Prix). Julia received a scholarship to Point Park University, a nationally recognized dance conservatory, to complete her Bachelors’ in dance. While in college, she danced professionally for the Chicago Bulls for five years and was named Head Captain. Later, she earned her Bachelors in Psychology and Minor in dance. Before the pandemic hit, Julia accepted a contract to dance globally with Norwegian Cruise Line, but life had other plans. Her Husband, her bunny, and Julia made the decision to move to Seattle. Julia had the opportunity to dance for the Seattle Seahawks for a year before deciding to hang up the poms and focus on teaching! When Julia is not at the studio, you can find her Coaching the Seattle Kraken’s Sea Squad at Climate Pledge Arena..
Isabella
Isabella was previously a competitive pointe dancer who began teaching and assisting dance classes in order to pay for her own and developed a passion for education in the arts and the community that comes with it. She received her BA from Seattle University in Visual Arts and Communication & Media Studies. Her teaching style incorporates education, social-emotional learning, self-expression, and technique together to create a fun and meaningful experience for dancers.
Josie
Josie is a classically trained ballet dancer, and grew up doing competitive dance. He also has a background in tumbling, gymnastics, and musical theater. In high school, he was introduced to color guard and competed on a world class varsity team as their primary dance soloist.
Josie currently competed with an independent open
class color guard team as
a featured dancer this 2024 season.
Jennifer
Originally from Atlanta, GA, Jennifer Starkmann (she/her) recently moved to Seattle after six years in Columbia, SC. She currently works as a data analyst at Boeing and teaches at Pure Barre Queen Anne. With over 10 years of experience teaching and choreographing, she brings a deep and diverse dance background to her instruction.
She began dancing at age 3 and trained in classical ballet (Vaganova and Balanchine), contemporary, modern, musical theater, and dance team styles. She danced pre-professionally with Sugarloaf Ballet (now Gwinnett Ballet Theater) and competed nationally both in studio settings and with her high school dance team at UDA.
Though an injury ended her performance career at 18, she has continued to teach and choreograph for studios and high school teams at the JV and Varsity levels. She has trained with esteemed programs including the Paris Opera Ballet, the Rockettes, Palucca School of Dance in Germany, and the University of South Carolina. Passionate about strong technique and well-rounded training, she’s excited to be part of the Seattle dance community.