Body Positive Giveaway with Jule Dancewear founder Julia Cinquemani
Share about your story in dance:
My name is Julia Cinquemani. I am in my third season as a professional ballerina with Miami City Ballet. Being a part of this world class company has allowed me to live out my dream to perform an extensive repertoire on some of the largest stages in America. Formerly, I was a Principal Dancer with Los Angeles Ballet. Altogether, this will be my tenth year as a professional ballerina and my eighth year as a business owner of my dancewear line, Jule Dancewear.
I started ballet when I was four years old. I grew up in Dallas, Texas and trained at Dallas Ballet Center and concurrently at Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. I spent my summers training at The School of American Ballet summer intensive for 5 consecutive summers in New York City. I left home at age 16 to train two years with the Professional Division at Pacific Northwest Ballet in Seattle, Washington before landing my first contract with Los Angeles Ballet.
I danced with Los Angeles Ballet for seven years and rose through the ranks achieving Principal Dancer at age 23. Throughout my career I have danced many dream roles such as “Odette/Odile” in Swan Lake, and “Aurora” in The Sleeping Beauty, “Giselle”, “Kitri” in Don Quixote, and “Juliet” in Sir Frederick Ashton’s Romeo and Juliet at Los Angeles Ballet. Most recently, I performed “Hippolyta” in A Midsummer Night’s Dream with Miami City Ballet.
What inspired you to start Jule Dancewear?
Even though ballet is first and foremost in my life, I have always had entrepreneurial interests and a love for fashion. I started designing, sewing and selling wrap skirts at my hometown dancewear store in Dallas at age 14.
After I made enough money with that small business, I decided to invest in more ideas I had for creating better fitting dancewear. I started Jule Dancewear in 2011 with a goal as a young professional dancer and female entrepreneur to “reshape dancewear”.
My mission is to design and produce dancewear that offers support, conforms to all body types, is high quality, and incorporates the latest in fashion with a commitment to made in the USA.
Your line is all about promoting confidence and dancewear that flatters the dancers figure, love that! Why are those ideals your focus? Have you had any struggles with confidence or body image?
When I created Jule Dancewear I was in my teenage years and my body was going through a lot of changes. I found the need to create a leotard that offered coverage and support for dancers with curves. I hated that my ill-fitting leotards were making me self conscious in a profession where confidence is key.
I wondered, are there any leotards on the market that cater to this need, and that are understood and designed by a dancer? That is when I asked a pattern maker to incorporate the support of a sports bra into a leotard.
As a result, we are known for reshaping the dancewear mold to support all body types. I now design all types of dancewear I see a need for. Every detail of each design is carefully tailored to function and flatter all body types.
I test and choose the highest quality fabrics and incorporate the latest in fashion. All products made in the USA where quality is high and our standards are met. I believe in the importance of doing my part to sustain my local community of garment manufacturers in my hometown of Dallas, TX.
What do you hope dancer’s will feel when wearing a Jule leotard?
I hope dancers feel confident and beautiful when wearing Jule! It’s about being able to showcase and express who they are as a dancer without worrying about what they are wearing. Dancewear should work as hard as we do! It brings me so much joy to see my designs come to life on my peers at Miami City Ballet.
In this industry self love and confidence is very important. If I can help someone feel good about themselves with something as simple as what they are wearing, then I feel like I have done my job. Every dancer should have the confidence they deserve!
How do you balance Jule and your dance career?
It is not easy running a business and dancing full time with a major ballet company. It takes lots of structure and planning ahead. At Miami City Ballet we have a 2 month period off in the summer. During that time I return to home to Dallas, TX to work with my pattern maker and knock out all of my designs for the year. I am so grateful to have such an awesome team in Dallas that keep up with the daily work that is required.
Thank you Julia, for creating such an incredible line of dancewear with a truly beautiful mission! Would you like to WIN a Jule leotard for yourself? Here’s how:
- Follow @juledancewear
- Follow @thewholedancer
- “Like” the giveaway post
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Comment and tag 2 friends on the post
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Comment as many times as you want 2 new friends each time (no celebs, brands, or giveaway accounts allowed)
WIN : the new Jule Dancewear Velvet Royalette leotard in your choice of Dust or Peach
My hoofing days are over (lol!), but I’ve always been a fan of the bodysuit-layered look (for daily life) and: these seem they could double as actual real “high end” FASHION. I like, too, how their shoulder straps are favored toward a normal width (I hated dance leos with spaghetti shoulder straps or any kind of “cage” business around the neckline….which: higher-cut leg designs, if you wanted: because, say, you thought your legs were becoming “stocky” and gave you the appearance of a short posture -from after, in my own case, having practiced a gymnastics program- tended to be beholden-to and not leave you with many style choices).
Thank you,
Cristina S.