Why is Utah so Successful with Dance Part 2

In part one of the series it was explained how impressive Utah has become in terms of producing such great talent in the field of dance.

At the end of the discussion it was ask why?

One reason is as follows:

Top rated instructors and dance studios

Bonnie Story is the director of Utah&rsquo;s <strong>Treehouse Dance Program</strong> and a professional choreographer which takes to such places as Los Angles, Las Vegas and New York City. She choreographed the High School Musical Movies.Story credits committed, well-connected teachers with turning out Utah's exceptional dancers. I come home from L.A. and think, &lsquo;Wow, I had better make sure the kids at home know how to do this kind of movement or handle that kind of choreography, Story says. I bring my experience from other cities back and teach the kids here what they need to know to be current. It's not a leap for them to go to NYC or L.A. because they already have everything they need.

Another studio of high praise that has produced such talent as Chelsie Hightower, Derek and Julianne Hough, Hefa Tuita, as well as Ashleight and Ryan DiLello is Kim DelGrosso's Center stage Performing Arts Studio in Orem Utah. Kim encourages her students to excel in all styles including, ballroom, singing and acting, and on a regular bases bring in professional dancers for the master classes. One such professional dancer is ballroom champion turned TV dancer and choreographer Louis van Amstel. He is a frequent guest for DelGoss's studio. In fact he visits so often he bought a second home near the studio after years of traveling back and forth from Los Angles to Orem. He believes it's DelGrosso's triple threat training method that creates such exceptional dancers. Center Stage&rsquo;s success is no secret: Agencies know that with one phone call to the studio, they can get a dancer who is trained in ballroom, lyrical and hip hop,&rdquo; van Amstel says.

These Utah companies stress the importance of being well rounded and a handful offer ballroom training on top of the standard tap, jazz and ballet. These companies include: Odyssey Dance Theatre, Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company and Kandee Allen&rsquo;s Dance.

So as a summary dancers from such companies as Impression home to So You Think You Can Dance session 3 winner&nbsp; Sabra Johnson and Sheryl Dowlings, The Dance Club home studio for Mollee Gray, Joey Dowling and Allison Holker and Utah Regional Ballet former school for Boston Ballet&rsquo;s Whitney Jensen. All provided strong technical skills in a variety of disciplines. So dancers from these companies got their start in the competition circuit before starting their professional careers.

If I am missing any companies that you feel needs mentioned please fill free to leave a comment below.

Information Source: http://www.dancespirit.com/articles/2753