Julie Leppelmeier Garmenn, MFA

Owner & Instructor

Julie is the ONLY dance teacher in the area with a Master Degree in Dance. She was raised in Bryan, Ohio, and has trained in dance since she was three years old.  She has performed professionally and taught dance at the collegiate level at the University of Michigan, the American College Dance Festival, Bowling Green State University, Owens Community College, and Ohio Dance Festival.  She has owned Julie’s School of Dance since she was fifteen years old.

Julie graduated summa cum laude from Bowling Green State University as a Dance Education major, received the Outstanding Senior Dance Major Award, and placed as a Top Ten Finalist for BGSU’s Outstanding Senior Award.  While pursuing her Bachelor Degree, under dance and academic scholarships, she was a member of the pre-professional dance company for four years as well as the president of the student dance organization for two years. She had the opportunity to perform at the National American College Dance Festival at the Kennedy Center For the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.  Julie has also performed in Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, New York, Pennsylvania, and Maine at The Power Center For the Performing Arts, Bates Dance Festival, Ohio Dance Festival, and American College Dance Festivals.  Her choreography was selected to be performed at the American College Dance Festival, Ohio Dance Festival, Wellspring Dance Forum, The Stranahan Theater in Toledo, Ohio, and The Embassy Theatre in Fort Wayne, Indiana. She was a dance model for cartoon animation and a dancer in a DVD for a McGraw-Hill arts textbook. 

Julie received her Master of Fine Art Degree in Dance Performance and Choreography from the University of Michigan under a full Graduate Student Fellowship.  While there, she danced in a commercial for the University of Michigan and wrote an article for a university publication.  The most pivotal moments in Julie’s dance career were performing solos in works by Doug Varone, Jane Weiner, Tammy Metz Starr, and Deborah Tell.  Julie has also performed the choreography of: Greg Patterson, Nancy Cranbourne, Jessica Fogel, Sandra Torijano-DeYoung, Bill DeYoung, and Lynn Deering, among many others.  As an undergraduate and graduate student, she performed in 24 concerts, co-producing 9 of them.  She has performed professionally with Ann Arbor Dance Works and Mikautadze Dance Theatre and has choreographed for the Fountain City Festival. 

Janet Leppelmeier

Business Manager

Janet has been an integral part of Julie's School of Dance since it opened in 1997, and Miss Julie truly appreciates that her mom has been part of the business. Janet received her Bachelor Degrees in Elementary Education and Elementary Art Education from Defiance College. She has been teaching in the Bryan as well as Edgerton School Districts for 25 years. She has also worked for a number of years at Standard Publishing as an Educational Consultant. In 2009, she was awarded the Outstanding Business Woman of the Year for her work at Julie's School of Dance. We are proud that she is a part of our business team!