Fuel Julie's Creative Voice on the Road

Hi! I'm Julie, and I'm a dancer, creator, teacher, choreographer, performer, and all around creative weirdo.

The short version:

I'm traveling and performing in multiple Fringe Festivals this summer on a very limited budget, and some of my friends wanted to help me along the way and encouraged me to post a fundraiser. So here it is, if you want to help an artist in the pursuit of her dreams.

The longer version:

I started to rediscover my creative voice as a dancer when I returned to school as a non-traditional student in my 30s and 40s. A decade ago, I discovered and performed at my first Fringe Festival, and felt like I had finally come home, creatively speaking. I am enjoying finally finding my artistic voice in midlife.

After taking an enforced break due to the pandemic and needing to fulfill duties as a caretaker for family members, in the last two years I have jumped back in wholeheartedly, and am now heading out for my third summer of traveling and performing with very limited funds.

I have been working on improving my self-promotion and marketing skills, but my small and sometimes strange dance shows tend to draw smaller crowds, but audiences who seem to really connect with the work I do. One of my favorite responses I ever received was "I think you healed something in me." I believe in the healing power of art, but I am still in the stage where I am figuring out how find those audiences and make my work more self-sustaining. That is a challenge that I am finding to be an ongoing learning process, and not one that I have yet mastered.

I am heading out on my longest stretch on the road (All the way to Florida from Idaho, and then three Fringe Festivals in quick succession, and then several more festivals in July, August, and September.) I travel as economically as possible, but it does take money. To fuel up the car, to fuel up the dancer, to pay for campgrounds or motel rooms. I know there are so many worthy causes deserving of your time, money, and attention right now, but if you have a little bit to spare to assist a performing artist and creator as she pursues her dreams, it would be deeply appreciated.