Tanner Dance at the University of Utah

Virginia Tanner created the Tanner Dance Program in 1949, and today the program continues to nurture an appreciation of dance, music, literature, theater and visual arts in a beautiful home, the Beverley Taylor Sorenson Arts and Education Complex. The program reaches over 40,000 children and adults throughout Utah each year.

Tanner Dance class registration for our campus location for the 2019-2020 school year is now open. Registration for our satellite locations is also now available.
Classes will run August 19 - December 7, 2019 for the fall session and January 6- April 25, 2020 for the spring session.

The Fine Arts Preschool provides children, ages 3½ to 6, with rich opportunities to experience dance, music, drama, creative writing, literature, and the visual arts. Hands-on involvement in three to four art forms daily helps children grow through experience and find joyful ways to express themselves, nurturing development of the whole child. The Fine Arts Preschool Program offers a 2-Day (Tuesday/Thursday), 3-Day (Monday/Wednesday/Friday), or 5-Day (Monday-Friday) option.

Art experiences at Tanner Dance encourage students of all ages and experience levels to experiment, explore, and deepen understanding of various art forms while making lasting connections. Classes fit a variety of schedules, experience levels, and interests.

Limited number of spots still available in 2, 3, and 5 day programs.

Tickets are now on sale for the OGDEN TOUR OF "THE DANCING MAN"

Children’s Dance Theater 70th Anniversary performances of "The Dancing Man" continue Friday, September 27th at the Val A. Browning Center at Weber State in Ogden.

Join the University of Utah Children's Dance Theatre as they present The Dancing Man, a moving portrayal of a creative life from beginning to end. In a poor village by the Baltic Sea, an orphan boy named Joseph receives a pair of silver shoes, and with them the courage to follow a secret dream. Over the years, Joseph dances his way down the road to the southernmost sea, dancing hope and delight into the lives of those who need it most, until at last it is time to pass the silver shoes — and the dancing man's destiny — to another boy. First staged by the Children's Dance Theatre in 1986, The Dancing Man pays eloquent tribute to the lifelong pursuit of a dream and the joy of dance.

Ogden Performance: September 27, 2019 - at Browning Center at Weber State. Click below for tickets.

Welcome to Tanner Dance!

Virginia Tanner began teaching children’s dance classes in the early 1940s,  but it was in 1949 when the Children’s Dance Theatre gave its first official performance at Kingsbury Hall on the University of Utah campus. We mark the beginning of this incredible program of dance for children from that time when Doris Humphrey, a leader in American modern dance first saw Virginia’s small company perform and wrote to Virginia, “Your children have left an indelible impression with me of true creative dance.  Your children offer a wonderful proof of the power of the young artist, guided wisely, untarnished by dogma or routine, un-stereotyped and lovely.  This source of fresh ideas in dance-art is a treasure house to which you have found the key.  Only to one who believes in children and understands them could this treasure have been unlocked. Congratulations for bringing Children’s Dance Theatre to reality, and for being its faithful guardian and creator. Their performance I saw in Salt Lake gave me a lift in spirit which I shall always remember.  I think beautiful children dancing have more to teach us than we have to teach them.”

Please refer to your Tanner Dance eNews emails, or click below for important studio dates. Bookmarking our calendar on your computer and phone is a great way to stay up-to-date!