MEET THE
JAOD TEAM
Miss Julie is the Owner and Director of Juliana's Academy of Dance and has been inspiring dancers for nearly 50 years. A highly respected educator, choreographer, and mentor, she has trained students in every style of dance while building a reputation for excellence throughout the dance community.
Her distinguished career includes serving as a judge for national dance competitions and as President of Dance Masters of Michigan. Miss Julie, was also the director of Jazz About at Lansing Community College and the featured Tap Dancer for Towne Club Soda TV Commercials. She has received countless awards for her outstanding choreography and teaching and has choreographed performances for the Detroit Thanksgiving Day Parade, Dance Masters of Michigan, Detroit Pistons Halftime Shows, and Chippewa Valley High School Dance team. Among her many achievements, she coached the winner of the $100,000 grand prize on Star Search in Las Vegas.
Miss Julie's impact is reflected in the success of her students, many of whom have gone on to perform on Broadway, in national tours, Dance back-up for major recording artists, and on television shows such as So You Think You Can Dance (Season 3, 1st Runner Up). Seven of her students became Radio City Rockettes, performing in the Radio City Christmas Spectacular. Others have starred in acclaimed productions such as Billy Elliot, Chicago, Cats, Wicked, West Side Story, Show In The Sky (Las Vegas), and two of her former students have earned Tony Awards! —a testament to her exceptional training many of her former students have gone on to open their own studios and continue the tradition of excellent training that they all received.
Mr. Mike has been a valued member of the JAOD family for over 26 years. In 2020, he became a part owner of the studio and is honored to work alongside such an exceptional team of faculty while helping inspire the students and families who make JAOD so special.
Throughout his distinguished career as a choreographer, Mr. Mike has worked with an impressive roster of artists, including Enrique Iglesias, Shaggy, Vanessa Carlton, Jon Bon Jovi, Christina Milian, and Patti LaBelle.
His choreography credits include serving as assistant choreographer for three Orange Bowl Halftime Shows and the Gator Bowl Halftime Show. He has also been the head choreographer for the Champs Sports Bowl Halftime Show, the NFL Hall of Fame Game, the Pacific Life Holiday Bowl Halftime Show, the Alamo Bowl Halftime Show, and the 2013 BCS National Championship Game.
As a performer, Mr. Mike spent five years with the Radio City Christmas Spectacular, performed for Disney Productions, and portrayed the role of Aladdin. His performance experience also includes numerous stage productions, industrial shows, and television commercials for Chrysler, Nike, MGM Detroit, Caesars Windsor, and Ford Motor Company.
In addition to his professional performance and choreography career, Mr. Mike is a highly respected dance educator. He has taught for Wayne State University, Dance Makers Inc., State Dance Championships, Conquest Dance Convention, ADA, DEA, Jazz on Tap, and DMA.
Miss Amanda is a third generation dancer. She grew up dancing at JAOD under the instruction of Juliana Pirpinelli and has taught dance since 1998. Amanda’s love for dance has motivated her to lead all types and styles of dance so she can teach others, no matter your age, anyone can learn. Amanda has performed with Enrique Iglesias, Boyz II Men & Mariah Carey. She teaches all her students to love what they do and do what they love. Amanda’s passion, drive, and love for dance shine through in everything she does.
Morgan is an alumni of JAOD, began dancing at the age of three here. She graduated from Wayne State University in 2017 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration. While at Wayne, Morgan performed with their three performance companies under the direction of Meg Paul. She has also performed in pieces and taken instruction under Jen Freeman, Doug Verone, Dwight Rhonden, Stefanie Battent-Bland, and many others. Morgan has continued to expand her dance education and choreographic experiences while teaching full time at JAOD where she works hard with our elite team and our recreational program! You can find her teaching technique, cleaning our guest pieces, and doing some choreography of her own!
Jordan Terzo has been dancing for over 23 years and was an instructor at Miss Natales Dance Centre and La Danse Workshop both located in Rochester, NY. Over the years, she has attended many dance intensive workshops and competed in various dance competitions in her high school and college career. Jordan graduated from The College at Brockport with a Bachelor of Science degree in Dance and Kinesiology in 2019. Her studies focused on choreography, performance and a variety of modern techniques. While attending Brockport, she studied under company members from the Doug Varone, Cameron McKinney, and Trisha Brown Dance Companies. Jordan was also a member of Brockports Dance Team. Jordan just recently graduated with her Masters Degree in Dance Movement Therapy with a concentration in Couple Family Therapy. She currently works as a Dance/Movement Therapist in Auburn Hill. Jordan excels in creating an inclusive dance room and is dedicated to developing quality relationships with her dancers.
Kelly Quinn (KQ) is a Detroit-area choreographer with a BA in Dance from the University at Buffalo. A two-season member of the Zodiaque Dance Company, Kelly performed in its 50th season gala and in productions including 9 to 5: The Musical. Their choreography has been featured at the American College Dance Association (ACDA), UB’s Emerging Choreographers Showcase, Choreolab, and Dancers Workshop. Kelly has danced for artists such as Todrick Hall, ONE UNITED, Michael Keefe, Whitney Bezzant, and Kyle Hanagami, and was recognized as a two‑season Velocity MVA+. In 2024, they began adjudicating for Dance Force Xpress, offering dancers positive and encouraging feedback. A proud alum of Juliana’s Academy of Dance (JAOD), Kelly now teaches and choreographs while also designing costumes and managing JAOD’s social media presence, channeling their creativity into both on‑stage productions and the studio’s online community.
Meredith Gagnier first came to Juliana’s as a student in middle school. She went on to study dance at Western Michigan University and became a certified ballroom dance instructor after graduation. Some career highlights include numerous awards at regional and national ballroom dance competitions and collaborating with Fabian Sanchez from ABC’s Dancing with the Stars to choreograph and dance in a music video staring Recording Artist Sean Forbes and Academy Award Winning Actress Marlee Matlin.
Ashlee Phillips, a proud alumna of Juliana’s Academy of Dance, has over 18 years of dance experience. In 2024, she graduated from Eastern Michigan University with a Bachelor's in Individualized Studies, concentrating on Dance and Nursing. Currently, Ashlee is pursuing an accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing at Wayne State University. During her time at EMU, she was a key member of the Dance Team, helping secure two National Championship Titles at the 2023 College Classic, and completed two years of training with the Universal Dance Association in sideline drills.
Brandon Koepsell, a Detroit native and Walnut Hill School graduate, has performed with “Companie Coline” in France and various projects in Chicago. He has choreographed and performed with university programs including the University of Michigan, Wayne State University, and Alma College, and appeared in Michigan Opera Theater productions. Brandon’s film credits include Disney’s *Oz the Great and Powerful* and *A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas*. He currently dances with Take Root and teaches for Eisenhower Dance Detroit, while also leading Dance for Parkinson’s classes at Henry Ford Health Systems.
Brandon Talbott is originally from Manassas, VA, and was trained at numerous studios and conservatories throughout the DMV area. Within his competitive dance years, he was featured on a variety of reality TV dance shows including Dance Moms, So You Think You Can Dance, and World of Dance. After finishing his senior year of high school in 2017, he attended the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) where he studied concert dance with a focus in contemporary work. At UNCSA he had the opportunity to appear in work by choreographers Doug Varone, Ashley Lindsey, Juel D. Lane and Stephanie Martinez. He also worked closely with the ballet department, where he appeared in in their annual production of The Nutcracker. Graduating in 2021, Brandon moved to Chicago and joined Visceral Dance Chicago as a company member and remained in the company until 2023. While living in the Chicago area, he developed a freelance resume which included AJA Talent, The Candlelight Series, Freckled Sky, and Symbiosis Arts. During this time he also was a guest artist with PARA.MAR Dance Theatre and Zikr Dance Ensemble. After leaving Chicago, Brandon moved to Los Angeles to further expand his freelance career and joined the Klein Collective run by Erica Klein. With the Klein Collective he performed on stages such as the Choreographer’s Carnival and Hit the Floor Canada. He also began teaching contemporary classes at Millennium Dance Complex. After spending a year in Los Angeles, he moved to Michigan to join Eisenhower Dance Detroit.
2026-2027 Season
