Growing up in Burley, Idaho, Sheryl balanced her time between riding her horses and dancing as a young girl. She later attended BYU where she continued her dance career with the Cougarettes while earning a Bachelor of Science degree in math and sociology as well as a secondary teaching degree. After graduation Sheryl and her husband, Chris, moved to Switzerland where Chris played professional basketball and Sheryl taught at the private boarding school, College Du Leman, just outside of Geneva. Upon returning to Utah, Sheryl joined the BYU faculty as the Cougarette advisor before opening her own dance studio in 1979. She and Chris have three children who all live in NYC where Christopher owns a strategy & design firm and Joey and Jacki are enjoying professional dance careers. Although Sheryl has a great love for the art of dance and has found tremendous enjoyment in teaching, her greatest fulfillment comes from the relationships she has developed with all of her ‘kids’ at the studio. Her goal at The Dance Club is to provide students not only with the technical dance skills to pursue a professional dance career, should they be interested, but more importantly arm them with essential life skills that lead to success in whatever they pursue.
Allison Thornton Studio Manager / Company Teacher
Alli has been involved in dance since she was a young . She started in "Stars" a drill team, and eventually gained valuable training in all styles of dance through "The Dance Club." Alli has performed throughout the world in Canada, various parts of Mexico, Costa Rica, Japan, and in almost all 50 states. She has also done industrial work for Polaris, Novell, and Nu-Skin, and performed in two International World Expositions. Immediately after high school, Alli began a 10 year professional dance career with "Odyssey Dance Theatre." During her time with Odyssey, Alli spent the first 7 years as a principal dancer/dance captain, and the last 3 years as the Assistant Artistic Director under Derryl Yeager. She cherished the time she spent with Odyssey, and gained tremendous experience as a dancer, choreographer, and director. Alli enjoys choreographing and has earned many regional & national awards for her choreography. She also enjoys teaching and helping children learn and grow in an art she loves. This past year, Alli was thrilled to be able to take on a new role in ‘The Dance Club’ not only as teacher and office manager, but as a partner in the studio with Sheryl Dowling.
Aimee Lohner Turns
Aimee’s background includes featured performances in industrials for Q Lube and Health Rider, at the Comedy Circuit, and LA Dance Magic. Her choreography credits include the Disney Channel feature film, "Wish Upon a Star," Starlight Productions National Finals Distinguished Performers, and the Tranzsommer Dance Festival in Innsbruck, Austria. Teaching all over the world, including Studio 225 in Zurich, Switzerland, at Chicago National Dance Masters, and National Dance Camp with Jackie Sleight and Tony Coppola, Aimee has earned her reputation as a master teacher. Her passion for motivating students and dancers to be the best they can be has made her a favorite among her dancers and teachers alike.
Alan Salazar Hip Hop
Alan started dancing at the age of 13, and has trained extensively in the disciplines of: Ballroom, Jazz, Lyrical, Contemporary, Ballet and Hip/Hop. Alan has been part of the national and international award winning competitive dance teams and has received individual recognition for solo performances. He’s performed with professional companies such as Origins, Odyssey and La…tin Revolution. Alan started teaching at the age of 16 at several local dance studios in Hip-hop and Jazz, and is constantly guest teaching and choreographing nationwide. In addition to his dance career, Alan is also an accomplished music editor (ProDig) and a photographer for ProPix.
April Snow Express and Senior Prep Director
April trained at The Dance Club for twelve years and was on their Company teams for six of those years. She was on the Orem High Drill Team, Orem High Dance Company and UVSC Dance Team. She currently is on the UVSC Synergy Modern Dance Team. She has had many leadership responsiblities which include Head Drill at Orem High, UVSC Dance Captain and is currently the President of UVSC synergy Modern Dance Team. Through out her years of dancing she participated in a variety of half-time shows, dance competitions and the 2002 Winter Olympics Closing Ceremonies. She has won many personal awards and scholarships throughout her dance training as well as awards for her choreography. April loves teaching and has coached the Orem High Drill Team and is currently teaching our Express Team, Jazz Classes and Ballet.
Bethany Bayles Stars / Fairy Tale Ballet Director
Bethany has been dancing with The Dance club since she was 3 years old. She has had training in Jazz, Ballet, Tap and Tumbling. Through her years of dancing she was able to participate in numerous half-time shows, competitions and the 2002 Winter Olympics Closing Ceremonies. Since she started choreographing, her students have won high honors at local competitions including "Most Entertaining". Bethany has now been teaching for 8 years and loves that she gets to play with little kids all day and teach them how to dance.
Caitlin MacEwen Office Staff/ Jazz Club Assistant
Growing up at The Dance Club, Caitlin has trained in Jazz, Ballet, Tap, Hip Hop and Contemporary since the age of three. She was on the Company team at The Dance Club for six years and won many regional and national awards with her teams. She danced in the Closing Ceremonies of the 2002 Winter Olympics with Earth Wind and Fire. Caitlin was on the dance team for three years at Timpanogos High School and served as President her senior year. For two years she enjoyed dancing and performing with the Utah Flash D-League basketball team dancers and choreographed for them as well. Currently at The Dance Club, Caitlin assists our Jazz Club team, and is also part of the office staff. She has loved growing up at The Dance Club and has found progressing from student to teacher very rewarding. She hopes to continue to grow as a teacher and choreographer and is excited to continue to share her talents with all of these wonderful girls.
Cameron Lister Hip Hop
Cameron Lister is a Senior at Brigham Young University, and has been dancing since he was three years old. He started doing hip hop at the age of nine and it quickly became his favorite form of dance. He’s been teaching since he was fifteen at multiple studios in colorado and Utah. He also has been dancing at BYU with the Hip Hop Club for 4 years, and is currently the President. He loves dance and the opportunity to teach all those wo want to explore this unique art- form.
Candice Taylor Ballet
Candice Taylor comes to The Dance Club from an extensive background in dance. Early training included Utah Regional Ballet and Jacqueline’s School of Ballet, Ballet West II and Ballet West Academy, as well as The San Francisco Ballet School, and Pacific Northwest Ballet School. At Utah Regional Ballet, Candice performed in Coppélia, Cinderella, and The Nutcracker. After performing as Clara in The Ballet West Nutcracker, she was asked to train and perform with Ballet West at the ripe old age of 15. During her time at Ballet West she performed in La Bayadere, The Sleeping Beauty, Balanchine’s Serenade , Graduation Ball and The Nutcracker among others. With Ballet West she also toured to Albuquerque NM, Phoenix AZ , and San Antonio TX. She performed with Janek Scherghen (her teacher and world-renowned ballet master) in The Sleeping Beauty in Idaho as Aurora. Also during this period, Candice was asked to stay on scholarship with The San Francisco Ballet School and The Royal Ballet School of London.
After her time with Ballet West, Candice pursued her education at BYU as well as explored other performing opportunities. At BYU she was given a full scholarship to dance with the BYU Theatre Ballet, teach ballet classes at BYU and to perform with Bronze Medal Winner, Mark Lanham. With Mark she performed many pas de deux’s including Coppélia, Le Corsaire, Black Swan and many original works. She also performed with DancEnsemble, The Cougarettes (with a National Championship team), and The Dancer’s Company. After graduation, she also was in film and musical theatre performances while also performing freelance in many productions including as a featured dancer in Kurt Bestor’s Olympic concerts. Candice can be seen featured in the CES film, Stand As Witnesses, which tells of her own story as a young ballet student in San Francisco.
Candice has also taught for many years. She has taught at most of the large local studios both in ballet and jazz. After receiving her MFA at the University of Utah she has also taught for the U and for UVU part-time. Currently she is also very busy coaching competitive dancers for national competitions at every level and age—including preparing students for YAGP, NYCDA, NUVO and Jump. She is also an owner and director of Soté, a new dance competition.
Chante Stutznegger Tap / Hip Hop
Chante Sinclair Stutznegger started teaching dance at the age of 16 and has loved it ever since. She completed her dance training at various studios in Utah as well as the Broadway Dance Center in New York, NY. She loves all dance styles but specializes in tap and hip-hop. In 2005, Chante won a gold medal at the Junior Olympics in Power Tap and has taken home many national awards in Power tap and Rhythmic tap. She is currently the Choreographer for Nauvoo Productions, choreographing all of the shows in Nauvoo, IL for the LDS church. She is also the choreographer for Heritage Schools, The Fine Arts director at Maple Lake Academy and dance faculty at Brigham Young University. Chante loves to share her passion for dance with others and enjoys every moment of teaching at The Dance Club
Connie Burton Ballet
Connie is the founding artistic director of Rocky Mountain Ballet and Rocky Mountain Repertory Ballet. A native of Utah, Connie began her professional ballet training with Willam F. Christensen at the University of Utah and a soloist a soloist with Ballet West, performing locally and nationally in solo roles such as Merlitons and Spanish in The Nutcracker, Spring in Cinderella, and in Octet, Swan Lake, and principal in Pas de Dix. Connie joined the ballet faculty of Brigham Young University in 1977, where her choreographic credits include Tandelei (Faure), Sleeping Beauty, Ballet for Farce, Coppelia, The Nutcracker, Love and Passion (Faure), Popcorn, Ameno (Enigma, re-mix by Dj Quicksilver), Eppur Si Muove (Enigma), Sweet Lullaby (Deep Forestand Enigma). While at the University she was principal teacher and co-director of BYU’s Youth Artists ballet program. In 1995, Connie opened the Rocky Mountain Ballet School of Classical Ballet, now Rocky Mountain Ballet, with its resident company, Rocky Mountain Repertory Ballet. At RMB and The Dance Club, she continues to train young dancers with her commitment to professional quality and discipline. She masterfully balances her classes with the elements of hard work, creativity and music, instilling in her students a love, respect and her undying passion for the art of ballet.
Christina Bluth Company Jazz and Technique
Christina grew up training at The Dance Club and became a member of Odyssey Dance Theatre in 1998. She is now an associate director of Odyssey. She has had the opportunity to work numerous times with Mia Michaels, Mandy Moore, Dee Caspary and other inspiring choreographers. She has performed professionally all around the United States including New York, L.A., Las Vegas, and Chicago as well as in Taiwan, the Philippines, Malaysia and Germany. She has been teaching and directing dance companies for over twelve years and has received many prestigious choreography awards including New York City Dance Alliance’s National Critics Choice. She enjoys teaching and choreographing all styles of dance for dance studios,companies, and intensives around the country. Christina is also a yoga instructor and loves any opportunity to help dancers strengthen their bodies and souls!
Emilee Wright Musical Theater / Tap / Jazz
Emilee has always loved to dance and to share her ability with others. She trained at various studios in Utah including The Dance Club, as well as spending time in New York and California to refine her talent. Emilee has a broad background in tap, jazz and ballet along with various world dance forms. She danced with the International Folk Dance Ensemble at Brigham Young University and later graduated in 2004 with a Bachelor of Arts. She now teaches jazz, tap and world dance at BYU and has choreographed for their Music, Dance and Theater program. She has been teaching dance for the past ten years and loves to teach all forms. She has also had the opportunity to choreograph for various performing groups, pageants, plays, competitions and festivals throughout the world. Emilee finds no greater pleasure than to teach someone to use their body for such a beautiful art form!
Emily Hoover Jazz Club Director
Emily began dancing at the age of 3 training at The Dance Club, and later at Tempe Dance Academy in AZ. She won numerous awards and scholarships as a dancer, as well as a college scholarship to MCC in AZ. She later continued her education at BYU majoring in education. Emily began teaching at the age of 15 and has taught children from 3 yrs to adults. She has taught jazz, ballet, tap, gymnastics, lyrical, turns, and everything in between. Emily has taught at The Dance Club since 1998, and has been a team director at TDC for 9 years. Her choreography has been recognized at various competitions, and she has led her Jazz Club dancers to National titles. Emily has a passion for teaching and enjoys being a part of her students’ lives. She is a wife and mother to 4 great kids who are the light of her life. She feels very blessed to love what she does and share the art of dance with others.
Evan Rogler Tap
Evan has performed nationally at Madison Square Garden, Radio City Music Hall, and Universal Studios Orlando with the United States Dance Team, as well as various cities in California, Nevada, and New York. As a member of the U.S. Tap Team he attended the World Class Tap Dance Championships in 2000 (Slovenia) and 2005 (Germany), placing 2nd and 6th respectively in the solo male division. For his work as a tap dancer he has been awarded many regional and national performance and choreography awards including Mr. Dance of the United States 2004, and International King of Dance 2005. He has studied with some of the most respected tap dancers in the business including Gil Stroming, Mike Minery, Charles Goddertz, Barbara Duffy, Derick Grant, and Bill Fowler, but accredits most of this training to Rita Pilotti, with whom he studied for 15 years in Binghamton, NY. He has been teaching tap for 10 years; most recently at Brigham Young University and other Utah dance studios. Evan is currently a student at Brigham Young University majoring in Public Health, with a minor in Dance. It is an honor for him to become a member of The Dance Club faculty.
Heidi Stoddard Starburst Director / Jazz I
Dancing since the age of 3, Heidi has trained in ballet, jazz, lyrical, modem, hip hop, tap and tumbling first in Arizona and later at The Dance Club. Although she earned many awards and scholarships growing up, her love of dance has grown most thru teaching. She has taught for the past 5 years and is especially proud of her community dance class for children with disabilities. Heidi currently serves as Miss Lehi and has learned that combining the Miss America program with her dance talent has provided her much scholarship money to further her dance education at UVSC.
Jeannette DeGraffenried Gym / Turns / Tap
Jeannette grew up dancing at The Dance Club. She is trained in Jazz, Ballet, Tap, and Gymnastics. She has worked with Polaris and Hanna-Barbera and has had the opportunity to take classes in L.A. and travel all over the U.S. competing. She has taught gym for over thirteen years and dance for 12 yrs. She cheered at Weber State and UVSC. Jeannette was the cheer advisor for UVSC for eight years where she took her team to nationals and placed in the top 10 three times. She also has worked with the United Spirit Association for over 10 yrs and has helped choreograph NFL half-time shows. She is excited to be teaching at The Dance Club.
Jen Pendleton Jazz Technique / Contemporay
Jen grew up at The Dance Club where she “loved every minute”. After graduating from high school she joined Odyssey Dance Theatre, and has now been dancing with the company for 5 years. Her dance career has taken her all over Europe, Korea, Costa Rica and across the United States. She has also danced with Justin Giles Company “Soul Escape”. Jen has been teaching since the age of 16 and is excited to ‘come home’ and be a part of The Dance Club staff.
Kass Martin ZUMBA
I am a wife and mother of two kids. I have been teaching Zumba for over two years and absolutely love it. I have enjoyed the people I have met and become friends with and this has become a real passion of mine. I stumbled upon Zumba and had no idea the impact it would have on my life. I have recently been trained as a Zumba Jammer where I hold choreography sessions for fellow Zumba instructors to help build relationships, brain storm, get new ideas, songs and choreography. I just returned from LA where I was in two of the new workout videos for the new box set of DVDs for Zumba coming out this December. It was an amazing experience to work with the best of the best and to learn from them. I hope you will come and try Zumba. Come, have fun, dance, sweat, forget about your troubles for an hour and experience what Zumba can do for you.
Kirra Cook Jazz / Turns
Kirra Cook began her association with The Dance Club in 1981 at the age of 10. After watching The Dance Club (Stars at that time) perform at the Provo Freedom Festival, she knew she wanted to be a dancer. Shortly thereafter, she tried out and made the All Star team. Kirra started teaching at The Dance Club when she was 13. She started off assisting Sheryl and some of the other teachers in jazz, ballet, and gymnastics. Soon after that she was given classes of her own. Kirra also participated as a songleader and as a student at The Dance Club during her high school years. At the age of 18, Kirra was awarded a one month scholarship to the Tremaine Dance Studio in Los Angeles. After High School, she moved to Los Angeles and was accepted as a full time student in The Tremaine Dance Studio’s scholarship program. During her time at The Tremaine Dance Studio’s, Kirra had many great opportunities and learned much about the professional world of dance. Kirra has had the opportunity to dance with Mary Hart, David Hasselhoff, and her choreograhpy has been seen in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, and Good Morning America. She has choreographed numbers for Odyssey and the National Champion Cougarettes. Kirra has won many choreography awards, including the Critic’s Choice Award at New York City Dance Alliance. She loves all of her students at the studio and is most proud of her students’ incredible dancing accomplishments.
Lisa Stoddard Dance Essentials / Tap / Jazz
Lisa graduated from the University of Las Vegas in dance and then received her masters degree in dance from BYU. The advisor of the UVSC Dance Team for seven years, Lisa currently teaches all levels of jazz and tap at BYU where she also coordinates the BYU jazz program and the BYU music, dance and theater program. Her choreography has earned many awards such as the most recent prestigious New York City Dance Alliance National Choreographers Award.
Liz Starley Ballet
Liz Starley grew up in Utah and has been dancing here for thirteen years. Her ballet training began at the age of eight at Jacqueline’s School of Ballet where she continued training classically for nine years until she was promoted to be an apprentice dancer with Utah Regional Ballet. Upon graduation from high school, Liz auditioned and received a contract to continue dancing with the professional company. This coming season will be her second year with the company and she looks forward to many more. She is currently pursuing a BFA in Ballet from Utah Valley University. Liz has two years teaching experience at different studios and is excited to begin working with the girls at The Dance Club.
Megan Miller Ballet
Megan has been dancing for the past twelve years and has enjoyed every minute of it. She trained at The Dance Club in ballet, jazz, hip hop, tap and contemporary. During that time, she was honored to received much recognition and national awards along side her team dancers. Megan has had many wonderful opportunities to grow as a person and a dancer. One of those opportunities was being on the Timpanogos High School dance team, where she danced for three years. There she learned styles of modern and new techniques. Megan is currently teaching ballet at TDC and can’t wait to share her love of dance with others. She is anxious to see the progress her dancers make this upcoming year! In the fall, she will be attending UVU where she will be continuing her dance education in ballet.
Michele Taylor Ballet
Michele started dancing when she was six years old and soon knew that ballet was her love. She grew up dancing at various studios in the Utah Valley area. Michele danced and performed with the Youth Artist Program at BYU. She majored in Ballet at BYU and danced and performed with the Theater Ballet Company. Some of the performances include Copellia, Swan Lake, Giselle, and other works. Michele has over 17 years teaching experience and has worked with a wide range of students from 12 months to s. She especially enjoys teaching children and finds it very fulfilling. Michele is married and has a daughter in Junior Co. at the Dance Club, two sons and a 23 month old daughter who teaches Mommy and Me with her. Michele likes to rock climb, mountain bike, ski, go camping, and has traveled the world, but most of all loves to spend time with her family.
Shaun Ricks Ballet
Shaun Ricks received most of her early training in Salt Lake City at what was then called the Ballet West Conservatory. She went on to earn her BFA in Ballet Performance from the University of Utah while dancing in the Utah Ballet and competing with the University’s Ballroom Team (URAD). She later returned to the "U" and completed her MFA in Ballet teaching and choreography in 2011. As a professional dancer, Shaun has been privileged to perform across the country with such companies as Ballet West, Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, The Lyric Opera of Chicago, Peoria Ballet, Roxey Ballet, and NoMi LaMad Dance Inc. During her career as a dancer, Shaun has continually sought opportunities to choreograph and her work has been presented by many companies and festivals including Roxey Ballet, RASA Dance Chicago, Freespace (IL), Breakthrough (IL), and American Performing Arts Presenters (NYC). Shaun discovered her passion for teaching dance while performing in New Jersey, and has since spent many happy years exploring and sharing this unique and beautiful art with students there and in Illinois, Wisconsin, and now Utah. She seeks to guide each of her students to continually reach for excellence and find joy in embodying the living art of dance as artists and people. She is pleased and excited to be continuing this pursuit at The Dance Club.
Shaundee Bull Jazz Club / Technique
Shaundee is an accomplished dancer and choreographer with more than 20 years training in jazz, ballet, tap, hip hop, lyrical and contemporary. She has choreographed for the Brigham Young University Cougarettes, National Dance Companies, various musical theatre productions, numerous college and high school dance teams, and dance studios around the country. For four years, she was a member of the8-time NCAA National Champion BYU Cougarettes and was the dance captain and choreographer for three years. At BYU, Shaundee was the recipient of the“Outstanding Choreographer” and “Outstanding Dancer” awards. She has been featured on three national CBS sports shows and in Dance Spirit Magazine. Shaundee has served on the board of directors for the “Utah Dance Judges Association” and has been a certified state adjudicator for 8years. She is the current co-chairman for the BYU Cougarette Alumni Association. Shaundee is thrilled to join the faculty at The Dance Club.
