Lakewood Ranch girl goes from tutu to can-do

When River Club’s Isabella Juliano was 4 years old, she always wanted to wear a tutu, so she started dancing.

At 11 years old, Juliano sat by her pool with her mother, Patricia, looking at a photo of her in her first dance outfit when she was 4.

Juliano shook her head in disbelief at her form. After dancing competitively for six years, she couldn’t believe she would have stood in first position with her hands not perfectly positioned. 

Juliano now spends at least 20 hours per week practicing her dance routines, and her practice has paid off. 

She competed at the regional Fusion National Dance Competition on Feb. 21-23 with her solo, “Butterfly Effect.” She placed third overall in the junior division, was awarded a $750 scholarship and received a Judges Award and a Fusion Star Award.

Juliano will perform her solo at the 2020 Fusion Nationals from June 29 to July 3 at the Hyatt Regency Orlando International Airport.

When her name was announced as the third-place winner, Juliano was ecstatic.

“I was really happy,” she said. “Sometimes I think I will get just a few awards, but this time, I really thought I did my best, and here I am with all these awards.”

Juliano said her “Butterfly Effect” routine is her favorite performance she has had in her seven years of dancing. She starts in a cocoon before developing into a butterfly.

“All the movements are really flowy, and I like that,” she said.

The solo was contemporary, which is Juliano’s favorite out of all the styles she has learned, which include tap, jazz, hip hop and ballet. This year, she decided to take up pointe, a part of classical ballet in which the dancer supports all body weight on the tips of fully extended feet.

Patricia Juliano said her daughter’s love of the tutu indeed inspired her.

“I knew that she wanted to spend more time dancing, and I thought it was a great opportunity,” she said of her daughter as a 4-year-old. “She was very shy and kind of a nervous kid, and I thought this would help her with her social development and just being around girls who had the same passion as her. She’s come out of her shell.”

Isabella Juliano enjoys dancing because it’s a way for her to express herself and tell a story.

Before a competition, Juliano said she is always nervous, so she puts in more practice to ensure she’s ready.

Solo performances make her the most nervous  because all eyes are on her. Group performances put her more at ease because she’s with her troupe and knows she can depend on them to perform well.

During her performances, her nerves slip away as she focuses on her technique.

Some people, like Juliano’s brother, Nicolas, would say dance is not a sport, but Juliano strongly disagrees.

“I want people to know that you can express yourself and your life in dance,” she said.

With the amount of cardio that goes into dancing and the strength a dancer builds, Juliano believes there’s no reason not to consider dance a sport.