Julie Webb believes in serendipity. It's her favorite word.
"I was fascinated with the word: Discovering something of great value while you're looking for something else. That seems like what's happened in my life," she said. "When you start paying attention, then opportunities are all around you. You have to put out the effort and pay attention to how your life is unfolding."
That's what she tells her students at Roy (Utah) High School where she teaches marketing and where she formed a student group called "Serendipity." And that's what she's discovered in the unfolding events of her own life — from local dance studio teacher to first assistant choreographer for the opening ceremonies of the 2002 Winter Games.
"This is going to be watched by 3.5 billion people; the most watched show in the history of mankind is what is predicted," said Sister Webb, a member of the Fruit Heights 6th Ward, Fruit Heights Utah Stake. "Through this experience, I've begun to understand there is a correlation between the gospel and the Olympic theme, 'Light the Fire Within.' "
Sister Webb's enthusiasm for the Games is portrayed by her smile and by her commitment to the cast of 5,000 participating in the opening ceremonies, scheduled for Feb. 8 at Rice-Eccles Stadium at the University of Utah. Her responsibilities not only include the preparation and placement of these 5,000 dancers, singers and other performers, but she also is responsible for the placement of 2,877 athletes from 83 countries.
All this from a lifelong desire "to grant people's wishes. I think everybody has their special gifts. So many people have helped me realize mine. They've given me opportunities. From there, I've gained a little more confidence and then I've had the guts to go out and make things happen," she said.
She started "making things" happen when she was 12 years old growing up in Woods Cross, Utah. The daughter of Al and Dotty Johansen, she wanted to enter the Miss Majorette of Utah competition. However, competitors hired coaches to help them choreograph their routines, and young Julie was told the family just didn't have the money.
"I went to bed that night and I had a dream (in which she saw her routine). The middle of the night I picked up my baton, and I choreographed my routine." Her mother sold some chocolate chip cookies to get the entry fee for the competition.
Young Julie won. And she never stopped dancing. After her marriage to Allen Webb in the Salt Lake Temple in 1973, she owned and ran dance studios in Woods Cross and Morgan, Utah. They have five children (one deceased), and one grandchild.
In 1991, her brother-in-law urged her to audition as choreographer for the Bob Hope Show in Little Rock, Ark. The show was to raise funds for children's hospitals and the interviewer was Merrill Osmond of the Osmond Brothers. During the interview, she recalled, she said she wanted to form a human American flag with 1,000 dancers. She got the job. Since then, she's been a freelance director/choreographer for NFL halftime shows, for the Summer Games in Barcelona, for the Stadium of Fire at BYU, for shows on cruise ships and for this year's Orange Bowl.
She credits many people and circumstances for her course in life. But one person, her son David, has had perhaps the greatest influence. He would have been 18 had he lived. Born with a severe spinal injury, he lived for only a short time on life support.
"He comes up at times when it's least expected," she said. "I feel a drive to be involved with things that make a difference in people's lives. He's been there at the turning points and decisions."
She hopes she instilled some of this drive in the 15,000 who auditioned for the opening ceremonies, even those who didn't make the cuts. Her philosophy is simple: "If you are told no, find another angle." That's what she does.
E-mail: julied@desnews.com