STAFF

Jen Burnett: Owner / Director, Company & Academy Instructor

Jen founded the studio in 2008. She saw a need in the area for a studio that was more family-focused and inclusive. Jen has danced since she could walk and has taught dance to both competitive and recreational teams for the past 18 years. With one degree in Film Studies and another degree in Elementary Education, Jen has experience in producing and teaching, which help her in her responsibilities in the studio. Jen has won many choreography and studio awards over the years. She has an incredible staff that supports her in all her goals, one of her main goals being giving dancers a safe and positive environment to dance in. Being in the dance world has brought her many life lessons, opportunities, and life-long friendships. Jen feels very blessed to know she is part of these dancer’s childhoods and considers herself fortunate to have this as her career. Apart from directing the studio, Jen is a mother of two amazing kids and considers the studio a part of the family. She is also a lover of all things Harry Potter, Disney, road trips, history, tubing rivers, camping, diet coke, and chocolate.

Natalie Porter: Ballet Director, Company Instructor

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Natalie Willes Porter has danced and been an arts advocate all her life. Starting from the age of 3, she received instruction from some of the very best. In 2011, she received her bachelor's degree in Dance Performance from WSU where she received full tuition scholarships in choir and dance each semester she was there. While attending Weber State, Natalie performed with Orchesis Dance Theater, Moving Company, attended American College Dance Festival Association, attended a worldwide acknowledged conference in New York City where she was able to take classes at Alvin Alvey Americal Dance Theatre and Broadway Dance Center. She has been fortunate enough to bestow her love of dance through teaching and coaching in studios, drill teams, and award-winning solos. In 2016, Natalie became an SSA certified personal trainer and was able to train clients pertaining to workouts and nutritional guidance within a gym atmosphere. Natalie has a great love for all the performing arts but singing and musical theater have a special place in her heart. She has been a member of numerous choirs, special groups, and musicals throughout her young training years as well as throughout college and afterwards. Natalie's greatest calling and accomplishjments in life have been her family. Married in the Bountiful LDS Temple to her husband of 14 years, they are blessed with three beautiful children, Paizlim Greyson, and Beckham.

Kortnee Balls: Company & Academy Instructor

Kortnee has danced since before she can remember and considers dance her greatest passion. She trained with a local studio for 10 years in all forms of dance including ballet, jazz, lyrical, hip hop, contemporary, and tap. She then went on to become a member of her high school Drill Team where she served as team Secretary and made the All-Region Drill team. After graduation, Kortnee then went on to dance at Snow College on their recreational team and helped teach at a few local studios. She has always considered dancing an escape and a place for her to express herself and hopes to be able to share that with her students. She has helped teach and choreograph many dances over the years and fits in perfectly at Diversity Dance with her drive and passion.

Jami Petersen: Tumbling Coach

Bio coming soon...

Jenie Labrum: Creative Movement and Academy Instructor

Jenie was raised in South Eastern Utah and has loved dance since she can remember. Having four younger sisters, Jenie began teaching dance early. She would hold “dance” classes for all the neighborhood kids. In junior high and high school she danced on the school Drill/Dance teams and had the opportunity to take ballet classes from CEU. To give back to her community, Jenie taught dance classes once a week to younger dancers with her teammates. Jenie was fortunate enough to gain a dance scholarship and was able to dance in college where she fell in love with contemporary dance and performing arts. Jenie was also a member of the Baggerettes; the Snow College dance team, which afforded her many amazing dance experiences. After college, dance took a backseat as Jenie’s growing family became the love of her life. She still found ways to fill her love of creative dance though with teaching aerobic classes, which include floor, step, kickboxing, spinning, hip hop hustle, Zumba, interval, and currently Jazzercise. Jenie immensely enjoys teaching children the art of dance, how to move their bodies and express themselves through their movements. She loves to teach them HOW to dance and how to LOVE dance, which is what Creative Movement is all about.

Sydney Bott: Company and Academy Instructor

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Sydney was born and raised in Perry, Utah. She has loved to dance since the first year she competed at the age of 3 years old. She grew up dancing in jazz, hip hop, lyrical, musical theater, and contemporary. She has trained at many national conventions with the industry's top instructors in all genres. Sydney was a member of the Box Elder Drill team for 3 years. She was a Top Corp nominee twice and received an Epic Drill camp award for Most Improved. She was an officer for two years and her senior year, she served as Drill Captain, Sydney loves to travel and has had the opportunity to travel to Australia, New York, Boston, and Nauvoo where she was a performer in the Nauvoo Pageant. Sydney loves teaching and sharing her passion and love for dance with her students. She hopes to inspire and help her students reach their highest potential in dance and in life!

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Karlee Fifield: Company and Academy Instructor

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Karlee has been dancing since she was just 3 years old and never wants to stop! She was born in Brigham City, Utah and graduated from Box Elder High School where she was a four-year member of the Rockettes Drill Team. She is currently attending Weber State University and majoring in Elementary Education. Karlee loves to share her passion for dance with her dancers and is so grateful to be able to teach!

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Alyssa Call: Ballet and Academy Instructor

Alyssa was born in Brigham City and graduated from Box Elder High School in 2021. Alyssa has grown up dancing. She studio-hopped all over Brigham City till she fell in love with Diversity Dance. She danced here from ages 12-17 then began assisting for several years and even taught ballet for one year. Alyssa is currently attending Utah State University where she is majoring in Kinesiology, She is so excited to be back at the studio and help the young dancers grow!

Cherry Burnett: Creative Movement, Assistant Tumbling Coach

Cherry gets to be the grandmother of the studio as she is Jen’s mom! Cherry was born and raised in the big city of Ogden, Utah. She spent her whole childhood tumbling and dancing. After marrying her high school sweetheart, she wanted a big family. Her wish came true with four wonderful children who grew up way too fast. Cherry also runs “The Cherry On Top”, which is workout classes in the studio weekday mornings at 5:00 AM! Cherry loves working with children and she has 50 years of experience in gathering kids together, teaching them to learn and grow, and to have fun together. Cherry’s goal in life is to be an example of kindness and to help others see the good in themselves by doing their very best. Cherry is excited to work with your children and to assist the parents in building great kids with high self-esteem and a bright future!

Justin "Spot" Beecher: Tap Instructor

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Spot has been performing on stages throughout Northern Utah for over 32 years. From live theater to dance troupes, many years of different experiences have helped create a passion for performing arts of all types. Favoring tap dancing, he has had the opportunity to be a featured tap dancer in several live theatrical productions. Recently, he has begun choreographing for shows such as "Nunsense", "Something Rotten", "42nd Street", and "Crazy for You" to name a few. You can usually catch him at the local community theater. If he is not on stage doing a production or directing a new production, he is spending his time with he wife and two children. Most likely involving games, movies, or taking the dogs out for a walk. He loves to teach tap dance! His goal is to educate and inspire a similar love for tap dancing and the styles it can bring as a performance style and art.

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Heather Nelson: Front Desk Receptionist

Heather is the mom of three wonderful children; Kayla, Sean, and Gemma. All three of which have loved being a part of the DDU family over the past 13 years. Heather has also enjoyed her time at the studio. It has given her the opportunity to watch her own children grow as she witnesses and appreciates all the work that goes on behind the scenes. Heather runs her own small flower business with the help of her husband, Rod. She absolutely loves working with flowers! It is what makes her happiest. When she's not working, some off her favorite activities include hanging out with her kids, going for rides in the mountains, vacationing, playing card games, and going on road trips. She owns way too many potted plants, she loves listening to true crime podcasts, and she celebrates Halloween all year round!

Annie Bywater: Front Desk Receptionist

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​Annie was born and raised in Brigham City and feels so lucky to be raising her own family in this beautiful town. All she ever wanted was to be a mom and now she has three beautiful daughters. With three girls, she especially has wanted to be a dance mom! She loves Diversity Dance and what we stand for. Since starting her girls in dance, she has watched them grow and gain more confidence in themselves. She runs a small daycare out of her home full time and has done that for 15 years! Babies and kids bring her so much happiness so she is literally working her dream jobs between daycare and working at the studio. With her family, she loves to hunt, camp, swim, play softball, play with their doggies, and DANCE! (Obviously)

Jaime Myers: Front Desk Receptionist

Jaime has a wonderful husband and is the mom of 4 amazing girls! She loves spending time with her family. They love to have game nights, watch movies, be outside, go camping, read silly stories, do crafts, crochet, tease and joke with each other. She loves Diversity Dance and has loved watching her girls learn and grow with the love and support of their amazing teachers! She loves going to dance recitals and competitions and seeing the growth of not only her girls, but their whole teams. These friendships are so precious!

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BriAnn Peterson: Front Desk Receptionist

BriAnn was born and raised in Roy. She is a stay-at-home mom to her four kids, ages 10, 8, 6, and 4. She received a BS in Criminal Justice/Forensic Science Investigation and is working toward a BS in Business Admin/Human Resource Management. She lives vicariously through her husband, an Adult Probation & Parole Officer. In her free time, she is learning Spanish. BriAnn loves watching her two girls dance and two boys play hockey and soccer. Much of the family's nights/weekends are spent at one of the two places. She loves traveling to the Pacific Northwest and hiking all the beautiful waterfalls.

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Jenn Mccairns: Seamstress

​Jenn is a mom of four kids; three boys and one girl. She's working on getting her masters in School Psychology and hopes to help as many people as she can overcome trauma and learn how to heal wounds that they carry with them. Her life-time dream career is to work with O.U.R. and help victims of human trafficking. She also has a successful costume business as a side gig. Jenn has been sewing since she was 5 years old! She has two amazing seamstresses for grandmas and her mom has always sewn with her for as long as she can remember. She has ran a small sewing business out of her home, has sold internationally, and has even had some of her items featured on "Toddlers and Tiaras", her own little claim to fame. As her kids have grown, her sewing projects have shifted from baby clothing and bedding to dance costumes! She loves to come up with her own costume ideas and bring them to life. She listens to the song and envisions the way the costume should look based on how the song feels to her. Colors, styles, and textures; she loves it all! Jenn is always striving to better herself in all aspects of her life. She believes there is always room to grow and always a lesson to learn in every situation we encounter!

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