Tanner Dance Program at the University of Utah

Meet Mary Anderson-Bailey! 🎭✨

Please join us in welcoming Mary as the new director of Elevate Theater Company! A Utah native, theater director, educator, and arts leader, Mary brings a wealth of experience—and a passion for creating spaces where every performer feels supported, empowered, and inspired. Check out our recent digital newsletter to learn more about this amazing human.

We’re so excited to have Mary as part of the Tanner Dance community! 💛

Music moves people—literally! Our production In Accord is built specifically around the energy of a live band. If you are a high school musician ready to see your sound come alive, this unique performing ensemble is your launchpad! Rehearsals are on Tuesdays from 4:30 to 6:00 PM. We will explore diverse musical styles and help choose some of the pieces performed on stage.

Auditions are August 25th starting at 4pm. Rehearsals begin Sept. 1.
Learn more and sign up with the link in our bio!

🍂✨ Fall Session starts August 17! ✨🍂

A new season means new goals, new friendships, and new opportunities to grow, learn, and dance!

Whether you’re returning to the studio or joining us for the first time, we’d love to have you be part of our fall session!

Classes begin August 17
Registration is available with the link in our bio.

Get Ready to Dance!

Boys belong in ballet! 💥🩰

Our NEW Boys in Ballet class is designed for boys ages 8–15 to explore the strength, athleticism, and artistry of ballet in a fun, supportive environment.

Dancers will build a strong technical foundation while improving coordination, musicality, flexibility, timing, and power. Classes include jumps, turns, traveling steps, and conditioning to develop agility, control, and confidence.

Open to all experience levels, this class celebrates discipline, creativity, and the joy of movement while encouraging every dancer to discover their unique strengths and potential.

Register for class with the link in our bio!

Calling all Classroom Teachers! Grow your teaching practice through our year-long Integrated Arts Workshop.

Each month's workshop explores a different art form—or the integrated arts—and how they connect to subjects like Math, Language Arts, Science, and Social Studies.

Join us on the first Tuesday of each month via Zoom or the second Tuesday in person at Nibley Elementary. The same workshop is offered both weeks, so you only need to attend one! Mix and match each month based on what works best for your schedule.

Bonus: Earn 0.5 USBE credit or 11 relicensure points—at no cost!

Learn more and register with the link in our bio.

Join us for a FREE 5-week creative ballet experience! ✨

We're inviting dancers ages 4–5 to participate in a special series of demonstration classes with Miss Mary Ann Lee as part of the University of Utah School of Dance's Ballet Pedagogy course.

These classes give ballet majors valuable hands-on experience teaching creative dance to young children while your little dancer enjoys a fun, engaging introduction to movement, music, and imagination.

Sign up for FREE with the link in our bio!

On Wednesday, July 8, 2026, Miss Cynthia danced to heaven.

Miss Cynthia became the full-time Tanner Dance costumer in 1978. She created, at a modest estimate, over 15,000 costumes and wore through the knees of innumerable pairs of her pants, cutting and hemming on the floor of the costume shop. Her skill lay in turning story ideas into a visual pageant. The marvelous costumes she designed and produced over the years captured the wonder of this organization. Miss Cynthia’s love of dance, her belief in children, and her passion for excellence in everything she did, embodied the core philosophy of Virginia Tanner and Tanner Dance. She believed that every costume should make a child feel special. Her uncountable sleepless nights ensured that result.

Cynthia’s costume designs endure, but her contribution transcends the stage, the lights, and the dance. She has shown generations how to lead and inspire to the highest standards of excellence and creative achievement. What lingers and transforms the Tanner family was her quiet generosity in both spirit and resources.

She offered hugs and scholarships, an endless stream of ideas and problem-solving strategies, a hand in friendship, and a shoulder to cry on. Think of the pins, thousands of them, locked in their sheaths to protect young skin. It slowed the work of hemming to use safety rather than straight pins, but it was the dancers, not the costumes that mattered most.

We at Tanner Dance are all grateful to have had Cynthia Turner in our lives, to have danced in her costumes, witnessed her artistry, and to have listened to and followed her sage counsel. Thank you, Cynthia; your legacy continues.

Last, but not least, is Lily! She always brings 100%, is a vibrant performer, and a dazzling human being!

Favorite book or story: Jane Eyre

Favorite dance in this year’s show: The End

Favorite Tipping Point memory: Dancing with all of my sisters

Next chapter: Serving an LDS mission in Edmonton, Canada

Compassionate, creative, and sincere - Macy ignites every rehearsal and performance!

Favorite book or story: My Lady Jane

Favorite dance in this year’s show: Tap and Seniors

Favorite Tipping Point memory: The sleepover every year and spending time together as a company

Next chapter: Going to BYU in the fall and an LDS mission in the spring

Another TPC senior to celebrate - Isabel! An inspiring dancer and person, she's always raising the bar and bringing light into the studio!

Favorite book or story: The Little Mermaid

Favorite dance in this year’s show: Senior Piece

Favorite Tipping Point memory: All the times we went to Trader Joe’s with the whole company in between all of our long rehearsals to buy the best sweet treats

Next chapter: Attending Utah State University in the fall