Meet the Interns : Rebecca King Ferraro and Julia Guiheen

Both Rebecca King Ferraro and Julia Guiheen have moved on to incredible next steps on their career paths since interning with The Whole Dancer. Rebecca has her own digital marketing agency and Julia writes for Pointe Magazine.

Miami City Ballet Dancer : Rebecca King Ferraro

Rebecca King Ferraro is a former dancer with Miami City Ballet. After retiring from the stage in 2017, she started her own digital marketing agency working with businesses, nonprofits, and arts organizations to expand their digital footprint. Learn more about her work and services here.

I’m Rebecca King Ferraro and I’m a corps member with Miami City Ballet. I’m originally from Northern California and was trained at the Contra Costa Ballet Centre under the direction of former San Francisco Ballet School Director and ABT dancer Richard Cammack and former ABT and SFB dancer Zola Dishong.

I also trained at the San Francisco Ballet School under the direction of Gloria Govrin and The Rock School in Philadelphia.  After graduating high school, I moved to Miami to join the Miami City Ballet and have been with the company for a decade now!

This past summer, my friend and fellow dancer, Michael Sean Breeden, and I launched a podcast, Conversations on Dance.  We are proud to say that Conversations on Dance is currently the fastest growing podcast in the dance world.  I’m also a purveyor of a dance blog, Tendus Under A Palm Tree.
Since creating our podcast we have met many wonderful people along the way, one of which is Jess with The Whole Dancer.  She has been a great supporter of our vision and when I heard she was looking to bring people on board at The Whole Dancer, I was excited for the opportunity.

I’m sadly dealing with an injury at the moment, which has made me more aware of my career’s mortality, so I decided this would be a wonderful time to pursue my second passion: business and social media.

What I love about The Whole Dancer is the positivity!

As dancers, I don’t think any of us can use the term positive as it relates to our body image.  I am excited by the opportunity to work with Jess to help change the way a future generation of dancers view themselves and help them make positive decisions when it comes to food and weight.

I consider myself a “Whole Dancer” because like many dancers before me, and surely many after me, I have been told to lose weight.  I know what that has done to my mental state and my eating habits, and I like to think I’m constantly working to better myself in that area.

I don’t think you need to be perfect to be a “Whole Dancer,” I think you just have to be committed to be in constant pursuit.

Butler Ballet Dancer : Julia Guiheen

Hi, I’m Julia! I’m 20 years old and a dance major at Butler University. My life as a dance major is a mixture between a typical college student and a pre-professional dancer. I spend my days in the studio and my nights in the library.

One minute I’m cheering on the Bulldogs in March Madness and the next I’m rehearsing for our run of Giselle later this semester. A year from now, I plan on auditioning for ballet companies around the country and starting my professional career.

I live in Indianapolis most of the year while at school, but I’m originally from New Jersey. I started dancing at a small ballet school in my hometown at age 12. Because of my late start, I wasn’t able to pursue pre-professional training and at the end of high school I knew I needed more experience before broaching the professional world.

I also wanted to go to college for the chance to pursue academics. I love to write and I have a second major in communications. Studying dance in college has led me to a lot of great opportunities (like interning for The Whole Dancer!) both onstage and off.

I will also be interning at Pointe magazine this summer!

Besides ballet, I love musical theater and I love to sing. I like to swim and do hot yoga as cross-training because I find them both physically challenging but very relaxing. I also have a nerdy obsession with dance history; I had to read Apollo’s Angels for a class, but I secretly loved it. Some of my favorite ballets are Balanchine’s Stars and Stripes and The Dream by Frederick Ashton.

I am proud to be a part of The Whole Dancer because I love when dancers are working together with dancers. It makes our super-interconnected community stronger. I am excited about learning how to run an online business, connecting with all of you, and helping you achieve your dance goals in ways that are healthy and fulfilling.

To me, being a “whole dancer” means being a person first and a dancer second. I think our individual personalities and passions are what make us artists and the best dancers. I try to cultivate the outside things that give meaning to my life, like art and relationships, and bring them into the studio.

This helps me find a sense of balance, which in turn motivates me to have healthier habits. Being confident in my dancing has been one of my biggest challenges, and it’s something I’m definitely still working on. Lacking in confidence is tough because it affects me both mentally and physically, but having a sense of my identity outside of just dance really helps me to dance with heart and determination everyday.

Do you have a question for The Whole Dancer interns? Ask in the comments below!!

Photos of Rebecca by : Julian Duque and Patricia Reagan