Julie Felix was born in Ealing, West London in 1956 to parents of Caribbean and white heritage, she joined the local ballet school at age 7 and was instantly told she had a talent for dance. She attended as many dance lessons as her mother could afford every evening after school and all day on Saturday’s.

Julie entered as many competitions, dance festivals and ballet exams as she could. Never tiring of her true passion, dancing! At age 11, she auditioned for The Arts Education School at Tring. Upon being accepted, she was sadly unable to attend due to the extremely high school fees so she continued taking classes at the local ballet school.

At 17, Julie auditioned for Rambert Ballet School and was accepted. She was awarded an ILEA grant which helped to pay for her three years of full-time ballet training, her years at Rambert proved to be the best years of her life.

Towards the final stage of her 3rd year at Rambert, Julie was chosen to dance with London Festival Ballet Company (English National Ballet) with the famous Rudolf Nureyev in Sleeping Beauty. At the end of the season, they wanted to offer Julie a contract but shockingly she was told that due to the colour of her skin they would not be able to offer her a place!

It was suggested that due to her skin tone she would not blend in with the white swans in the corps de ballet of Swan Lake!

Julie channelled the devastation she felt from this unjust rejection into determination and used this as fuel to go on and succeed. In 1976, the world acclaimed Dance Theatre of Harlem had been invited to the UK to perform for the Queen at The Royal Variety Performance. Julie was invited to audition for a full-time job and of course she was accepted.

In 1977 Julie began her professional career in New York City with Dance Theatre of Harlem.

New York in July 1977 was one of the most dangerous cities in the world. Julie witnessed the Blackout of New York in which 3,700 people were arrested for looting and setting cars on fire. She watched police gun down a black man in the streets for robbing a store and while on tour in the Deep South the KKK were marching in the streets, burning crosses and shouting racial abuse. During one tour, performance was stopped due to the volcano Mount St.Helen erupting.

Julie has performed for President Ronald Reagan and First Lady Nancy. Danced on the same programme as Luciano Pavarotti. Performed for Michael Jackson, Prince and also earned an Olympic Medal for performing at the Closing Ceremony of 1986 Los Angeles Olympics with Lionel Ritchie.

In 1987 due to home sickness, Julie returned to the UK to become a ballet teacher and remedial coach for the Sadlers Wells Royal Ballet which then went on to become The Birmingham Royal Ballet.

An exhibition of Julie's life was held at the London History Museum and she appeared on CBeebies as part of their Black History Month celebrations.

In 2015 Julie’s life story was published in a biography entitled “Brickbats and Tutus, Britain’s first black ballerina “.  In 2022 Julie was made an Honorary Fellow of Falmouth University and now spends her time teaching and inspiring others with her amazing story when speaking at events around the world.

Julie has also featured in the Guardian's Black Lives series.

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