About

Julie Opiel is a dancer, educator, and arts administrator based in Los Angeles. 

She currently serves as Director of Programs and Partnerships at BODYTRAFFIC, where she leads education and community engagement initiatives that expand access to dance and foster inclusive, high-impact learning experiences. Since joining the organization, she has played a key role in reactivating in-person programming following the COVID-19 pandemic, with BODYTRAFFIC’s Teen and Summer Programs doubling in size and the company significantly deepening its partnerships across Los Angeles, including with Los Angeles County High School for the Arts, Crossroads School for Arts & Sciences, Loyola Marymount University, the University of Southern California, Everybody Dance LA!, the Boys & Girls Club of Metro Los Angeles, and Pasadena Senior Center. She collaborates closely with artists, educators, and community leaders to develop sustainable programs rooted in equity, access, and meaningful connection.

Originally from Memphis, TN, Julie earned her M.F.A. in Performance and Choreography from Florida State University and her B.F.A. in Dance from Webster University in St. Louis. Her choreographic work draws from a deep engagement with ballet vocabulary, often deconstructing its forms to examine the labor and artifice of shaping the body within classical technique. Her thesis work, Fourth Girl on the Left, explored themes of embodiment and physical identity through interdisciplinary collaboration and was presented in both New York City and Vermont. She has created works for BODYTRAFFIC, The Tallahassee Ballet, Florida State University, Ballet Memphis, Racine + Southern Dance Exchange, and Imagine Dance Project.

Julie’s performance career includes work with Ballet Memphis, where she performed a wide range of classical and contemporary repertory, including Swan Lake and Cinderella, as well as works by Trey McIntyre, Steven McMahon, and Julia Adam. She has also performed with Ballet Ashani—where she additionally served as rehearsal director—and with the Opera Theatre of St. Louis. While at Florida State University, she performed in works by Merce Cunningham, Ilana Goldman, and Anjali Austin, and served as rehearsal assistant for the re-staging of George Balanchine’s Stars and Stripes.

An experienced educator, Julie has taught ballet, pointe, modern, and movement practices across academic, conservatory, and community-based settings, working with movers of all ages and experience levels. Her teaching credits include Florida State University, The Tallahassee Ballet School, The Ballet Memphis School, Inland Pacific Ballet Academy, and numerous summer intensives. She began her work in community engagement as a Teaching Artist with Ballet Memphis’ outreach program, an experience that continues to shape her education philosophy.

Julie is deeply committed to creating supportive, accessible learning environments that center embodiment, curiosity, and care. A certified yoga teacher, she integrates mindfulness, breath, and somatic awareness into her classes, with a growing focus on trauma-informed pedagogy and inclusive teaching practices.