About Ozark Dance Academy Staff

Julia Alderman began her dance training at the age of seven in Westerville, Ohio.  By the age of ten, she was dancing as a scholarship student through the Ford Foundation, a national program to assist gifted young dancers.  This gave her the opportunity to train with Tatjana Akinfieva-Smith and to dance with BalletMet, a professional company in Columbus, Ohio.  In addition, she studied with the Dayton Ballet, in Dayton Ohio and at the School of American Ballet in New York City.  In 1987 she moved to Las Vegas where she trained with the Nevada Dance Theatre and traveled with them to Moscow, Russia.  After moving to Memphis, TN she performed witht he Mid-South Dance Theatre.  in 1991, she moved to Springfield, MO and began teaching ballet for Springfield Ballet while she completed a degree in Business Administration from Drury University.  In 1994, she founded Ozark Dance Academy.  Known by Miss. Julie to her ODA students and those she taught during her years as an adjunct teacher in the Theater and Dance Department at Missouri State University (2003-2017) she has shared her passion for ballet and trained many dancers who have gone on to be teacher, perform professionally and those who have just taken their dance training into their life beyond dance. When not teaching class at ODA or Fenix Hot Fitness she loves spending time with her husband Jeff, fur-babies Louie, Kato, and Mojo and being on the beach.