THE DIRECTOR
JULIANA KELLY
Dance has always been a big part of Juliana's life. Beginning her training age of three, she studied in ballet, jazz, tap, lyrical, hip hop, pointe, and acrobatics at a competitive level, where she competed across Canada and the United States. Since 2004, her focus has shifted to specializing in tap dance.
Upon graduation of high school, Juliana joined Downbeats Tap Company under the direction of Cathy Duncan where she danced for two years performing in the East Coast Tap Conference (ECTC), Taking the Rhythm Train, Embrace the Rhythm, Toronto's Live in Culture Campaign and many other shows across Ontario. Currently Juliana works as a contributing artist
with the Toronto Rhythm Initiative (TRI), a collective of tap dancers committed to voicing the artistry of Toronto’s professional tap dance community. With the Toronto Rhythm Initiative she has performed in twelve TRI shows to date. She has sat on the faculty for TRI's Youth Ensemble for many years, and in 2016 began working as co-producer for TRI's Summer Youth Intensive. Juliana spent time studying abroad with Heather Cornell, and performed in Walk To The Beat (Nyack, New York), Rhythm Lives! (Montreal Tap Festival) alongside living legend Arthur Duncan and members of Tapestry Dance Company, as well as performing in the Inaugural Toronto Body Percussion Festival (Allison Toffan). She performed in Ron Davis' SymphRONica, and The Inaugural Toronto International Tap Festival (both choreographed by Dianne Montgomery), as well as Rhythm & Sound's Illumination (Johnathan Morin and Cori Giannotta), and sat on faculty
for the Rhythm, Body, & Soul Tap Festival (Calgary) and The Cleveland Tap Experience (Cleveland). Most recently, Juliana performed and choreographed for Fall For Dance North's Perspective In Rhythm (curated by Allison Toffan and Michael Caldwell) and has accepted a new position as co-producer of the bi-annual Toronto International Tap Dance Festival.
Juliana's love of dance has also led her to many opportunities as an educator including guest choreography and classes, summer intensives, workshops, conventions, seminars, and adjudication. Her main focus is as a teacher and choreographer, with a specialization in tap. She has received multiple accolades for her work, and her students are well known in the dance community for their technical and musical excellence. In 2016, Juliana founded The Rhythm Ensemble, a pre-professional tap dance company dedicated to providing unique training and performance opportunities to serious tap dancers. She strives to spread the love, and respect of tap dance and it's community to all her dancers.
