Skip To Main Content

News

Julia Phu ’20

Julia Phu ’20

By Dylan Howlett

Performer with Ronald K. Brown’s EVIDENCE dance company

Julia Phu '20 dancing

Julia Phu ’20 has danced for as long as she can remember: in her childhood, as a student in Laci McDonald’s Upper School dance studio, and at Virginia Commonwealth University as a dance and choreography minor. She graduated from VCU this spring with a degree in exercise science, the field in which she is pursuing a full-time position. It will not come, however, at the expense of dance. “I’m still trying to keep the dance thing going,” Phu said in a phone interview. “I’m giving myself a couple of years to make this happen.”

She wasted little time. Phu landed a place in the American Dance Festival’s summer intensive program, a four-week immersion for pre-professional dancers. “You are dancing the entire day,” says Phu, whose father, Thomas, is an Upper School history teacher and JV boys soccer coach. “Super maximal effort. It’s really an intensive experience.”

But it wasn’t the only dance project she would pursue this summer. McDonald asked Phu if she would have any interest in auditioning for a community production with Ronald K. Brown’s Evidence, a Brooklyn-based dance company. Phu earned a part.

The piece, titled “On Earth Together,” featured community members who rehearsed at night to accommodate their regular work schedules. The youngest performer was 9 years old, the oldest in their late 70s. “It really was a community piece,” Phu said. Her background in dance had primarily included performances in ballet and contemporary techniques. “On Earth Together” featured West African-inspired movement, a tradition in which Phu only had limited experience. “Getting to learn that technique of dance was awesome for me,” she said. “The process was super friendly.”

It was also familiar. About halfway through rehearsals, Phu thought she recognized a fellow community member. She conferred with Kristin Danielle-Taylor Duncan, a dancer and choreographer who founded her own dance company. Is there any chance, Phu asked, you know who that is? “Yeah,” Duncan said. “She goes to DA.” The dancer in question was Mahaugony Howard ’25, who — along with Naomi Gibson ’25 — also performed in the community piece at McDonald’s recommendation. “It was cool to also make that connection,” Phu said. “It’s such a small world when you think about it.”

Her world has become equal parts smaller and richer since she moved back to Durham after her college graduation. Phu has three projects lined up with the North Carolina Dance Festival, an annual touring showcase of modern and contemporary choreography by North Carolina artists. She’s participating in a friend’s dance thesis at Duke University. And thanks to a memorable intensive and community performance, Phu is still keeping the dance thing going.

“It’s been my favorite summer ever,” she said.

Julia Phu ’20 on the impact of Laci McDonald: ‘She is just good, good people’

Amazing summers inevitably trace back to amazing educators. For Julia Phu ’20, the beginnings of her rewarding summer can be found during her time in the dance studio of Laci McDonald, a longtime Upper School dance teacher and the 2024 F. Robertson Hershey Award Distinguished Faculty Award winner, who assumed a new role this year as Upper School Dean of Students.

Julia Phu '20 and Dance Teacher Laci McDonald

“When I was going through the dance program [at the Upper School], I was kind of going through a mini-existential crisis, you could say, about whether I wanted my path to go forward in dancing. I was doing ballet pretty intensely and thinking about trying to make that a professional career. I unfortunately injured myself during my sophomore year and had to get surgery. That was a moment where I had to really reevaluate what I wanted. I ended up quitting ballet, which was the best choice for me, but that was a really tough period of my life. Dance was kind of my outlet. It was my passion. Getting the experience from Ms. Laci to explore different styles really helped me kind of home in on what I truly wanted.

“Aside from dancing, she is just the most amazing person. She was a mother figure to everybody in the dance department. You could go to her about anything at all. There were so many moments in time when I would just go to her office and we would sit and talk. She goes the extra mile for her students. I am so happy that I’m still in touch with her now. She makes you really feel important and gives you confidence. She’s just an amazing person. Anybody who knows her loves her.”

Know any Durham Academy students, families or educators who had a mission-driven summer?

Tell us! Email communications@da.org with more info.