Originally from Honolulu, Hawaii, Julie Ann Minaai is an international award-winning dancer, choreographer, rehearsal director, teacher and artist of Japanese heritage. She has trained in both the US and UK, and completed her MA in Contemporary Dance from the London Contemporary Dance School. Julie spent 12 years in the UK and was recognised as an Artist of Exceptional Promise by the Arts Council England. She has toured internationally (UK, US, Norway, Israel, China, South Korea, Colombia & Peru) performing and creating works. Her experience spans into dance, theatre, opera, film, tv, musicals and live performances. Since moving to Australia in 2021, she has worked with Meryl Tankard AO, Elena Kats-Chernin AO, Regis Lansac OAM, Form Dance Project, Configuration Company, Bronwyn Kidd, Bella Waru, Jackie Sheppard, REMUSE Designs, Noriko Tadano, Wadaiko Rindo, L2R Dance and MAV (RESONANCE 2023, Art Souk 2024). In 2023, Julie received the City of Melbourne’s Annual Arts Grant and was resident artist at the Bowery Theatre, Brimbank and Immigration Museum. Julie teaches at the University of Melbourne’s Victorian College of the Arts (VCA), Chunky Move and Lucy Guerin Inc. Her interdisciplinary practice explores stories of
immigration, ancestral memory and cultural identity from a diasporic Japanese lens.