Justine has a BFA in Dance Education from Grand Canyon University where she studied Ballet, Jazz, Modern, Improvisation, Choreography, Yoga, Pilates, Dance History, Dance Pedagogy and Lesson Planning. From 2019-2020 she was an active board member for the National Dance Education Organization, presenting and attending both the 2019 and 2020 conference. Before graduation in 2020 Justine completed over 100 hours of teaching practicum and well as a semester student teaching dance and theater at a middle school in Arizona. She completed school with several adjudicated works (including one submitted to the American College Dance Association West Region 2018 conference), participated in many faculty and student performances and assisted in stage managing both faculty and student dance concerts. Justine is local to Idaho and studied at several studios in the valley as well as being a member of the Rocky Mountain Diamond Dancers from 2012-2016 winning three state championships. 

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As an artist, Justine focuses most of her choreography on interpreting the human experience through a Post Modern lens. She collaborates with her dancers on movement, not wanting to "force them to wear the movement" unnatural to their body. Justine loves working with larger ensembles so the dancers can have more opportunity to make choices in the moment, creating smart movers.

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Having studied Dance Education, Justine's teaching philosophy is very important to her. Everyone can dance, and should be welcomed into the dance space. It is the job of the instructor to create a safe environment for risk taking and discovery. Each individuals own life experience is a gift to others, and our differences should be celebrated and utilized in class.

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