Faculty

Katie Fowler Smith has been dancing since she was 4 years old. She started dancing with Southwest Dance at the age of 7 when her mother Candy Fowler founded the dance studio. Her love of dance continued as her teaching career started with Southwest Dance when she was 17 years old. Katie continued to teach with Southwest Dance and is now their Artistic Director. Katie’s dance background also includes 10 years of Classical Jazz dance training and 5 years of Classical Ballet training.

Katie attended Pine View High School where she was on the Drill Team for 3 years and Drill Mistress her Senior Year. She was the Sterling Scholar in Dance and the Region Runner Up. Katie was the first Miss St. George in 1990 and went to the Miss Utah Pageant where she won the Talent Award.

She graduated from Dixie State University with her associate’s degree. While there she was a cheerleader for two years and the Head Cheerleader her Sophomore year. Katie was crowned Homecoming Queen in 1992 and went to Miss Utah again where she was in the Top 20 Contestants and won the Talent Award.

Katie attended Brigham Young University and was awarded the Dance Talent Award Scholarship. She also received the Dee Winterton Award and the Phylis Jacobsen Award. She was on the BYU Dance Ensemble Performing Choreography Group.  Katie was also a member of the BYU touring Modern Dance company titled “The Dancers Company” for two years which toured through the northwestern and western states as well as South Africa, the Philippines and South Korea.  She was also featured in the BYU dance film Women the Pioneer dancing the role of Woman of Joy. Katie graduated from BYU in 1997 with a Bachelor of Arts in Dance Performance.

Katie served an 18-month mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Canada Toronto West Ontario Mission. Katie is married to her sweetheart Joseph Evan Smith, and they have six wonderful, talented children.

Chauntelle Plewe Lewis has been dancing since birth—formally since she was four years old. She danced with Southwest Dance Theatre until she was 19 and was Miss Candy’s assistant for a few years. She has taught at Southwest Dance since 2007 and loves the opportunity to share the magic of dance that Candy Fowler instilled in her. Chauntelle’s favorite part of teaching is seeing pure joy exuding from her dancers as they are free to create their own movement.  She also loves designing concert and studio graphics for Southwest Dance.

In high school, Chauntelle was a member of the drill team. While attending Dixie State College she was a founding member of the Dixie State Dance Company. At Dixie State she earned an Associate of Arts and a Certificate in Visual Technologies. Chauntelle then  earned a Bachelor of Arts in Communications: Public Relations, and a minor in Modern Dance. At BYU she was a member of Dancensemble—a modern dance choreography and performing company, and Kinnect—an education, outreach, and performing company. With Kinnect she travelled to New York City and Philadelphia to perform, teach, and attend class. Her Senior year she was awarded “Student Teacher of the Year.” She was also in the cast of The Trojan Women, a play incorporating modern dance, and Left Behind: The Women of the Mormon Battalion, a dance play in which she performed in group pieces and a solo.

Chauntelle served an LDS mission in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She then worked as the Dixie State College Marketing Coordinator. for 2 years. She is a founding member of the St. George Dance Company and danced with them for several years. Chauntelle and her husband Tyler have five children.

Karen Jensen Brock has been dancing since age 10. From ages 13-18 she took regular extensive classes in modern, ballet, jazz, tap, and musical theater. She spent her summers in dance camps and workshops. When Karen was 15 she started assistant teaching in dance classes, which she did for 3 years. For several years she enjoyed performing at many different events through the community as a member of a performing dance company. Karen graduated from Pine View High School in 2005 and went on to dance as a member of Dixie State College’s dance company and God’s Messengers, a local dance company. Karen’s life revolves around her family. When she does get a night to herself she enjoys taking classes in the community with St. George Dance Company and at Dixie Arts Conservatory.

Since Karen was young, she wanted to be a teacher. Once she started dancing that dream adapted into being a dance teacher. As she’s watched her 3 daughters dance at Southwest for the past several years, her love for dance and teaching children has intensified and she is ecstatic to finally be making that dream come true.

Karen has been an assistant teacher to 5 children’s classes in the past couple years at Southwest Dance. She has learned and taught under the direction of Miss Susan and Miss Jaymi. She looks forward to being a part of Southwest Dance Company as she teaches and watches the dancers develop.

Danielle began dancing at the age of five with classes in ballet, jazz, and tap. She started her journey with Southwest Dance Company when she was eight and instantly fell in love with its values, creativity, freedom, and beauty. She continued dancing with Southwest until she graduated in 2019.

In addition, Danielle has taken many years of ballet during high school, college, and beyond. Her training also included classes in pointe, modern, jazz, and tap. She has performed in dance concerts for Southwest Dance Company, Westside Dance Studio, and more recently for St. George Dance Company as a professional for several seasons. She completed a bachelor’s degree in elementary education with a minor in dance from Utah Tech University.

She also has a significant background in music. She played the violin throughout her growing years and received a music scholarship in college where she played violin for several semesters. Her music background is a great complement to her dance teaching.

Danielle has been teaching with Southwest Dance Company since 2020. She loves to emphasize technique in her classes and credits her ballet background for improving her dance technique and teaching skills. Southwest Dance Company has been a creative outlet for her to express herself and has taught her not only dance, but also many life lessons. She hopes to help young dancers do the same.

Shannon Spencer has been dancing since she was young and is an alumna of Southwest Dance Company. Southwest Dance was influential in her life, instilling a deep love for creative movement and a desire to teach.

Shannon earned her Associate of Arts degree from Dixie State College and performed on the Dixie State College Dance Company. After serving a mission in Brazil for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, she taught briefly at Southwest Dance Company. Shannon went on to receive a Bachelor of Arts degree in Dance from Brigham Young University. While at BYU, she choreographed and performed as a member of Dance Ensemble, and journeyed to China for a dance study abroad, where she choreographed and performed her senior project.

After completing her degree at BYU, she spent five wonderful years teaching at Tanner Dance, the University of Utah’s children’s dance program. While there, she taught Studio classes, Arts in Education classes in elementary schools, was a teacher in the Fine Arts Preschool, and assisted and taught in the Children’s Dance Theater.

Additionally, Shannon has performed and choreographed in summer dance concerts with the St. George Dance Company. Shannon feels blessed to be married to her incredible husband and to be the mother of four beautiful children. Shannon is thrilled to be teaching at the studio, sharing her passion with others, and watching the joy that dance brings to children.