Tanner Dance has been offering high-quality and nationally-recognized arts in education programs since the 1960s. These programs are offered to classrooms and teachers at free or subsidized prices with support from the Utah State Board of Education’s Professional Outreach Program in the Schools (POPS), Utah State Legislature, National Endowment for the Arts, Utah Division of Arts and Museums, Salt Lake County’s Zoo, Arts & Parks, Salt Lake City Arts Council, Art Works for Kids Foundation, and numerous private foundations and donors.
Your donations help support Tanner Dance Arts in Education programs
Side-by-Side Dance Residency Program
The Side-by-Side (SBS) Dance Residency Program offers weekly dance classes for K-6 students in Utah elementary schools. These residencies occur during the school day with the classroom teacher and students actively participating. The weekly dance classes are held for 45 minutes to one hour and can be held in a year-long, semester, or trimester residency. Tanner Dance teaching artists and classroom teachers collaborate and work together to plan dance training that integrates classroom curriculum.
As a brief introduction, please watch these video highlights of our SBS Program at Oakridge Elementary School and Granger Elementary School.
Funding for the program is provided through a 50% match from Tanner Dance and a 50% match from the school, and Tanner Dance can often secure additional funding to assist schools who cannot meet their 50% match. The portion that the school will match is $1400 for 32 classes (1 class per week), which can be divided by 16 week semesters or 10 week trimesters to reach more classrooms.
Interested schools should contact Lindsay Ermidis, Director of Arts in Education, at lindsay.ermidis@utah.edu to discuss openings.
Tanner Dance Side by Side Residency Teaching Program
Professional Development Workshops
In collaboration with community partners such as the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), Utah State Board of Education, the Utah Arts Council, Salt Lake City Arts Council, Utah school districts, Art Works for Kids, and many other partners, Tanner Dance’s Professional Development Program offers a variety of training and mentoring opportunities, as well as resources, to help educators develop new ways to stimulate learning in the arts and make connections between the various art forms and other curriculum areas. The Professional Development Program provides a framework for educators to engage in teaching and learning activities that support the needs of their students while implementing the Utah State Fine Arts Core Curriculum and prevailing state and federal mandates.
Lecture Demonstrations
Want a FREE CDT Lec Dem performance at your elementary school? Please share the following information with your principal.
Lecture demonstrations are presented to an entire elementary school on-site and are generally scheduled on Friday mornings. Each lecture demonstration involves 20-40 CDT dancers, one to two professional musicians, and Tanner Dance faculty members who present an interactive 45-minute performance. Students and teachers are introduced to the elements of dance, asked to sing along, and answer interactive questions. Prior to the lec dem, a member of the Tanner Dance faculty presents a 20-minute in-school teacher workshop to prepare teachers with music and movement ideas to share with students as a way to introduce and reinforce the program in the classroom. Please contact Tristana Black at tristana.yegge@utah.edu to discuss the possibility of holding a free lecture demonstration at your school.
The following dates are available to schedule:
October 2nd 2026
October 9th, 2026