Meet Juliana | Binford Dance Company Feature | Year Six
The Binford Dance Company was established in 2016. It is an audition-based student dance company from Binford Middle School, an arts integrated school located in Richmond, VA. Company members study Ballet, Modern, Jazz, Improvisation, and Composition within the Binford dance program. The company has performed throughout the community including: The 2019 Superintendent’s State of the Schools Address, Generation Dream, Richmond Public Schools Fine Arts Festival, Strawberry Street Festival, Appomattox Regional Governor’s School for the Arts and Technology, Petersburg Home for Ladies, and Cedarfield Retirement Community. The company also had the opportunity to perform in the music videos “Have It All” and “Love Is Still The Answer” by Jason Mraz. The Binford Dance Company inspires students to find their own voice through performance and choreography while learning valuable skills in the rehearsal process including collaboration, respect, and confidence.
This year the company dancers met at the VMFA and chose their favorite spots to showcase their movement and choreography they have learned through this year’s dance curriculum.
MEET juliana
JULIANA - 7th grade
My name is Juliana and I love to dance. I've been dancing since I was very little but ballet is what has always stuck out to me. I've always loved the elegance and flowyness of ballet. I enjoy trying different styles of dance but there is something about the specificity of ballet. I feel in ballet you can always do better, you can always be stronger, and you can always improve your technique. I feel that in some other styles you either have it or you don't. Ballet is hard, and it hurts, and sometimes I really wish I could go home and never go again, but the will that makes me go to my next class and makes me try my hardest to get better is what reminds me of how much I love it. I currently go to Richmond Ballet and next year I will go on pointe. I'm in seventh grade and this is my second year being in the Binford Dance Company. I've loved the dance company ever since I joined. It's such a safe space to be in but we also push and inspire each other to improve. We truly are a team and we grow together as dancers and as people. I'm so glad to have been able to be a part of this little community and I will never forget what an impact dance company has had on me.
