Diversity Dance Utah

Jen Hurd: Owner / Director, Company & Academy Instructor

Jen founded the studio in 2008. She has danced since she could walk and has taught dance to both competitive and recreational teams for the past 17 years. With one degree in Broadcast Journalism 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, her favorite being her studio receiving the Best of Brigham City Award for the past three years in a row! She has an incredible staff that has helped her achieve this. Being in the dance world has brought her many life lessons 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 awesome kids and considers the studio a part of the family!

Joanna Howard: Assistant Director, Company & Academy Instructor

Jo has been dancing for over 20 years. From the second her feet hit the dance floor, she has had an undeniable love for all kinds of dance. She has competed in everything from Hip Hop to Contemporary, Lyrical to Character. She was a member of her High School Drill and Cheer Teams. She has been teaching for the last six years and loved creating a story with her choreography. Miss Jo loves her students! There is no greater reward than seeing their confidence and passion grow. Whether it be on or off the dance floor, she is continually trying to help them find love for themselves and those around them. She hopes to be a positive influence in their lives as they always better hers. Apart from her teaching career, she is a proud mother to three amazing children. She is so excited for this upcoming season with her Diversity family and can't wait for all of the amazing things they will accomplish together.

Heather Jones: Studio Manager & Academy Instructor

Heather has been dancing for over 25 years. The second she stepped into the studio she knew she was home! She danced, assisted and taught classes for years while growing up in Cache Valley. In high school, Heather danced with the drill team and was a member of the team presidency her Senior year. During college, she continued to take classes wherever she could find them. Once she married her high school sweetheart and started her family, she took Zumba classes as often as possible just for a few minutes of dance time. Eventually she started teaching Zumba for fun. Her daughter has been dancing with Diversity Dance since she was 2 and Heather has loved it here. Once the opportunity to start teaching opened up, Heather jumped at the chance! Heather loves teaching and getting to share her love of dance. She wants all her students to have fun and love coming to dance class as much as Heather loves being there! She also wants to help her dancers become kind, confident, well-rounded people. When not dancing, Heather is a proud mother to three beautiful children and is a loving wife. She runs an Etsy shop and is finishing her college degree online. She also has a huge love for photography, blogging, sewing, and panda bears.

Shauntay Olson: Tumbling Director

Shauntay started taking tumbling and dance at the age of 3. By the age of 9 she was taking power tumbling and gymnastics from USA in Ogden. Shauntay enjoyed going to many competitions for tumbling, including State and Nationals. She was ranked 2nd in the Nation for her level, placing just behind a team member by only 1/10th of a point. Her favorite passes included full twists and back fronts. She was also a Cheerleader in High School where she loved all aspects of the sport. With Shauntay having a background in dance as well, she is able to teach the importance of technique into tumbling. She can spot anything from a cartwheel to a full twist. Shauntay has a love for children and the ability to manage any chaos kids can throw at her! Shauntay is married and a mother of three.

Elizabeth Jensen: Ballet Director

Ellie has been dancing for over 20 years. She began her dance education in classical ballet at the age of 6 in Madison, Wisconsin. At age 8 she joined the studio company and competed throughout Wisconsin and Illinois. She was a scholarship finalist for New York City Dance Alliance's youth program in Chicago and had the opportunity to attend workshops taught by well known choreographers and dancers, including Mia Michaels and Joe Lanteri. She has performed with the Wisconsin Dance Ensemble and the Madison Ballet in many professional ballet productions such as, Winter Fantasy, The Nutcracker, A Midsummer Night's Dream and Cinderella. Elizabeth began student teaching in 2001 and went on to teach her own regular classes in 2003. She also continued her own dance education in Jazz, Tap, Lyrical and Contemporary. In 2004 Elizabeth was introduced to musical theatre and choreographed pieces for the Beaver Dam Area Community Theatre's production of "Oklahoma!". Since then, she has gone on to choreograph and perform in many musicals and still has a great love for the theatre today. In 2013 Elizabeth became a member of Dance Masters of Wisconsin and is certified in teaching both Ballet and Jazz. To date, she has enjoyed teaching many forms of dance for over 13 years and is an asset to Diversity as the head of the ballet program!

Kortnee Balls: Dance/Pre-tumbling Director, 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..

Witney Wayment: Ballet Instructor

Witney started dancing ballet when she was three years old. She knew right away that she loved it! Witney had the privilege of being taught by some of the most respected ballet teachers at Ballet West. She danced at Clytie Adams Ballet School and they would often collaborate with Ballet West which gave her the opportunity to dance many incredible and classical roles. Witney continued her classical ballet training all the way through college until she found her love of nursing which took took her away from ballet. Now she is married and has four children and has found so much happiness in being able to teach her love of classical ballet to children (including one of her own)at Diversity Dance.

Sarah Carlson: Academy Instructor

Sarah started dancing at age 13 and immediately feel in love! She danced with her high school drill team all through high school and served as the president her senior year as well as being an All-State dancer, and won the drill down at the State competition. She then went on to Dixie State University and danced with their competition dance team and helped teach at a studio in St. George. Sarah is most passionate about lyrical and jazz. She loves and is so grateful for the opportunities and confidence dance has given her and hopes to be able to share that with her dancers and is so excited to be a part of Diversity Dance!

Katie Wyatt: Academy Instructor

Katie started dance when she was three years old and has danced ever since. Over the years she has taken many different types of dance and loves them all. She was a member of the Viewmont High School drill team as well as dance company. Her favorite memories of dance while growing up were performing at Kingsbury Hall, competing at the U of U, and all the friendships made along the way. Katie especially loved dancing in college at Utah State. Go Aggies! She is a wife and mom of two kids who she loves very much. Katie loves the happiness and confidence that dance empowers people with and she is so excited to be part of the Diversity team!

Mandy Mclean: Ballet Instructor

Mandy has loved dance her whole life with over 20 years of experience. She started competing in high school with cheerleading, ballet, jazz, and the dance team. Since joining the DDU family, she has enjoyed assisting in ballet, jazz, and tumbling classes. Mandy values the benefits of dance, thanks to her knowledge in Health and Exercise Science. She hopes to encourage, empower, and inspire others through dance. In her free time she loves to ski, paddle board, hike, camp, and craft.

Cherry Burnett: 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! Besides 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!

STAFF

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