"I want to give back to young students the joy dance has given me."
— Amy Markgraf, Founder & Director · UVU Professor of Dance
Where dance meets joy, creativity, and the whole child.
Mapleton Dance Center exists for one reason: to give every child — and every adult — the experience of dance taught the way it should be. Not for trophies or Instagram moments. For the joy of moving, the confidence that comes from real skill, and the creative voice that develops when someone truly believes in you.
MDC is rooted in the Virginia Tanner tradition, grounded in the National Core Arts Standards in Dance, the NDEO Standards for Dance in Early Childhood, and the principles of daCi — Dance and the Child International. Amy and Angela Banchero-Kelleher have both presented their research at NDEO national conferences and the daCi International Congress in Copenhagen. Amy served on the daCi USA board for nine years.
The Virginia Tanner Tradition
Virginia Tanner founded her Creative Dance Program in Salt Lake City in 1937 and spent her life perfecting a philosophy of teaching dance to children that remains unmatched anywhere in the world. As the celebrated choreographer José Limón declared in 1978: "Salt Lake City is the most blessed city in the world to have the world's master children's dance teacher. There isn't any place — and I include New York, London, Paris, Moscow — that has anyone who can touch her genius for teaching children the exciting purity of the dancing arts."
Virginia once said: "The motivating force behind my work is not only developing excellent dancers, but more importantly, developing young people who are useful, imaginative, worthwhile human beings." This is the philosophy that lives in every MDC class.
Amy began her dance journey in BYU's Young DanceMakers — a program directly rooted in the Tanner tradition — and has carried that philosophy through 30 years of teaching at every level. At MDC, the tradition continues: strong roots in the art form of dance, and wings — the nurturing of imagination and creativity.
Learn more at Tanner Dance → tannerdance.utah.edu"From the first, there was beauty. The children were wonderfully disciplined, yet gloriously free… They danced as if they had faith in themselves, had a love of those of us who were seeing them, actively believed in their God, and rejoiced in all of these."
— Walter Terry, Dean of American Dance Critics
on Virginia Tanner's Children's Dance Theatre, 1953
What the Tanner tradition means at MDC
The teachers behind the teacher.
Amy has not simply read about the Virginia Tanner philosophy — she has lived it, danced it, and taught it alongside the women who built it. The lineage that runs through MDC is direct, personal, and lifelong.
The Origin
Virginia Tanner
The founder. The pioneer. The woman José Limón called the world's master children's dance teacher. Virginia created her Creative Dance Program in 1937 and spent her life developing young people who are, as she put it, "useful, imaginative, worthwhile human beings." Everything at MDC traces back to her.
Mentor & Friend
Chris Ollerton
Chris studied and lived with Virginia Tanner — one of the closest carriers of her philosophy. She founded the Children's Dance program at BYU, where Amy first trained as a young dancer. Amy later returned as a colleague and co-teacher, working side by side with Chris for years. Mentor, colleague, and friend.
Mentor & Colleague
Mary Ann Lee
Mary Ann Lee assumed artistic directorship of Tanner Dance after Virginia's passing in 1979 and has led the program for over 45 years. Amy was Mary Ann's teaching assistant in graduate school at the University of Utah, taught alongside her at Tanner Dance, and spent her sabbatical working with her. A relationship built across decades of shared work.
Colleague & Friend · Decades at UVU
Kathie Debenham
Amy first studied with Kathie at BYU Children's Dance and later became her colleague at UVU, where they worked together for many years — including a period co-directing Synergy Dance Company. A rare relationship — teacher becomes peer, peer becomes lifelong creative partner. The kind of collaboration that shapes a career.
Mentor & Friend · International Collaborator
Anne Green Gilbert
Anne Green Gilbert is the creator of Brain-Compatible Dance Education and one of the most influential voices in children's dance education worldwide. Amy completed Anne's summer teachers program and has served alongside her on the daCi board. The methodology Anne developed — and that Amy teaches — is the foundation of Holly Markgraf-Mayne's certification as well.
Teacher Mentor & Colleague
Donna Gordon
Donna Gordon was Amy's teacher mentor — a guiding presence in her formation as an educator — and later her colleague at Utah State University. The kind of mentor who shapes not just what you teach, but how you think about teaching itself.
"I have danced side by side with these women my whole life. They are mentors, colleagues, and friends — people who have guided my dance journey as a performer, educator, and choreographer. When you bring your child to MDC, you are bringing them into a tradition built by some of the greatest teachers dance has ever known."
— Amy Markgraf · Founder & Director, Mapleton Dance Center
Amy Markgraf
Founder, Director & Lead Instructor
Amy Markgraf is a tenured Professor of Dance and Dance Education Program Coordinator at Utah Valley University with more than 30 years of teaching experience. She began dancing with BYU Young DanceMakers and holds a B.S. from Utah State University, an M.A. from BYU, and an MFA from the University of Utah.
A prolific choreographer, her work has been performed nationally and internationally — including multiple ACDA Gala Concerts, Breaking Ground, Metropolitan Ballet's Choreography Design Project, and the Center for Latter-Day Saint Arts. Performances have reached audiences in Denmark, England, Scotland, Ireland, the Philippines, and South America.
She has presented research at NDEO, IADMS, UDEO, and daCi conferences alongside colleague Angela Banchero-Kelleher, served nine years on the daCi USA board, and received both UVU's Faculty Teaching Excellence Award and the Dean's Recognition Award for Scholarly and Creative Work. She remains an active member of NDEO, IADMS, and daCi.
More than 60 former students are performing, teaching, and creating worldwide. Two have attended Juilliard. Now she's teaching in Mapleton — in a studio she designed and built.
Come see the studio.
Schedule a free trial class. No pressure, no commitment — just dance.