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Mrs. Courtney Pearce   
​Email: [email protected]

 Mrs. Pearce will be at:
Crimson Cliffs High School every A Day 6am-11:15am in the CCHS dance room
Desert Hills High School every B Day 6am-9:15 am in the DHHS dance room 
Hurricane Elementary Schools every afternoon- Rotational 

In teaching and coaching, I believe that the student comes first. I hope to create a safe environment for exploration and creation. Collaboration is a key element in our space. I will aim to teach those skills for dancers to collaborate with one another as well as learn skills to help them professionally post high school. I also believe in professional development not only for myself but for my students as well. I will provide them with a variety of opportunities to work with professionals and peers in the dance community. As a coach and a teacher, I understand that practice and class don’t always go as planned. I believe these are learning moments for myself and the students. Reflection is a major part of our process in the studio. I will allow for moments of reflection and collaboration both before, during and after classes and practices to allow students to feel comfortable in taking the risk to try again and grow in both knowledge and performance. In teaching and coaching, I use my personal experiences to explain the technique of dance. In dance there is not a “one size fits all” mentality. Movement is natural but should always be explored on various levels to meet the needs of various bodies. I want to explore movement that fits best on the students bodies making their dance and movement experience something to treasure and always remember.  Within teaching dance I offer historic parallels through classroom exercise. This is to enhance the students exposure to all aspects of the academic art form. I teach dance to enhance creative critical thinking skills, allowing students to define their uniqueness through inspiration and guided exploration. I encourage students to be aware of how dance stimulates dancers and observers both intellectually and physically. I wish more than anything to integrate dance with other academic subjects such as, English, history, science, arts, and even math. Mostly I want to show that dance is not just bodies moving. Dance is creative thinking, creative moving, and finding a creative voice.
I was born and raised in Salt Lake City, Utah. I attended Skyline High School where I was a member of the Skyline Dance Company for 2 years and served as the Vice President my Senior Year. I was the Dance Sterling Scholar for Skyline High School in 2002. From there I decided to take the leap to leave home and go to school to progress towards my dream of Primatology (the study of Primates). I decided to begin my adventure at SUU and begin my journey in animal sciences. Well, I had a semester of not dancing and missed it in my life and changed my major to Dance performance. After a full load of classes every semester on top of dancing at least 8 hours a day I graduated in 2006 with a BS in Dance Performance with a minor in History. I taught dance at Point O Pines in Brant Lake New York the summer of 2006 and decided that after shoulder surgery I needed another plan to add to my bucket list. I went back to school in 2007 to complete a teaching degree in Dance Education and History. Upon finishing my classes I had to opportunity to do my internship at DHHS when it first opened and here I am today!
 
Aside from my love of Primates and Dance, I love to 
do anything outdoors, either on dry land (hiking, repelling, camping etc.) or in or under the water (SCUBA, water skiing, boating, fishing, ect.). I adopted two of my best friends, Niobi and Tonka my English bulldogs, who along with my beautiful daughter, handsome son and wonderful husband keep me on my toes!