TEACHERS AND STAFF

Christy Dorrity has been dancing ever since she could walk. She is trained in tap, ballet and Irish dance. Christy competed with An Coimisiun Le Rinci Gaelacha (CLRG) and the World Irish Dance Association (WIDA). She has a degree in elementary education, with an emphasis on creative arts.

In 2014 Christy placed 3rd at the WIDA world competition in Germany. In 2015 she retired and in 2016 completed her TCRG certification with WIDA. She has completed her grade exams with CLRG, with the intent to certify.

Christy finds great joy in sharing her love of dance with everyone, and believes that anyone who wants to dance should be given the chance.

Aubree began Irish Dance at the age of 5 with the Deely School of Irish Dance in Northern California. From there she was a part of Utah’s first performance-based Irish dance school, Rinceoiri Don Spraoi, serving as Troupe Dance Captain and Head Teacher. She also co-founded the Power Academy of Irish Dance in 2002 before going on to establish the Harp Irish Dance Company in 2012. She joined the staff of the Legacy School of Dance in 2018, and had enjoyed working with Legacy ever since. She received her Teagascóir Choimisiúin le Rinci Gaelacha (Gaelic: Commission Certified Irish Dance Teacher) in 2009 on the first attempt.

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She has danced on scholarship with the Brigham Young University International Folk Dance Ensemble, traveling the US and Europe with that World-famous ensemble. She has choreographed for the World Dance Program and taught Irish Technique Courses for BYU, as well as being a featured Instructor for BYU’s Youth Folk Dance Summer Camp.

Aubree graduated from BYU with a degree in Music Education, with a minor in World Dance. She has over 24 years Irish Dance teaching experience, and over 32 years experience in the Irish Dance world.

Aubree lives in American Fork with her husband, Bryce, and has five little dancers of her own.

Misti Porter is a Legacy Dance Mom of three incredible dancers.  She grew up in Sandy, Utah, but her husband’s job took her to Southern California for almost 14 years.  After living in California and being a stay-at-home mom for several years, she was so happy to accept a position with Legacy School of Dance and be back home in Utah again.

Prior to having children, Misti worked as a Customer Service Supervisor with Delta Air Lines where she enjoyed working with people and traveling the world in her spare time.  Thus far, Ireland has been her favorite place to visit, she finds the people there to be warm and welcoming, and “it just feels like home”.  Misti loves working for Legacy School of Dance and finds the excitement of dance competitions and show productions to be contagious. Misti believes Bob Marley said it best when he said, “Forget your troubles and dance!”

Christy Hall loves being the Legacy Backstage Dancewear store manager. She is mom to a long-time Legacy dancer. She homeschools her two children, is a family physician, and works part time from home doing telemedicine.

Prior to having kids, she was an Air Force Flight Surgeon. She misses traveling the world with the Air Force so traveling for dance competitions bringings her joy. She is honored to help everyone with their dance shoe, clothing, and gear needs.

Heather Peterson took piano lessons as a child instead of dance, but was always fascinated with and wanted to learn how to dance. She was finally able to start Irish dancing at the age of 19. She enjoyed several years of performing with a local performance group, but couldn’t stay content when she discovered that competition existed. She joined a competitive school as soon as she could and began the next chapter of her dance career, though performing remains her main love.

Heather has been with Legacy School of Dance since its inception, first as a dancer and later a teacher. She loves teaching and watching her students develop qualities that will last a lifetime. Outside of dance, Heather enjoys being a mother, piano teacher, tin whistle player, polyglot, artist, and horticulturist; among many other things. 

Melissa started dancing in 2010. She started out her training in Irish Dance and then gradually expanded into other styles such as: lyrical, cheer/pom, jazz, military, hip hop, contemporary, and modern along with power tumbling. She started teaching at Legacy in 2019 and has taught all ages from 4 years old all the way to adult. 

On a handful of occasions she had the opportunity to train with the Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company and the Repertory Dance Theatre. For 3 years she participated in the Utah Dance Education Organization (UDEO) High School Dance Festival with her teams and as a choreographer, where they received superior ratings. She has received the following awards: Outstanding Athlete for Cheerleading, Scholar Athlete for Dance, Academic Letter in Dance, and Dance Sterling Scholar along with a scholarship. She also has been competing since 2012 and has won over 45 medals. 

Her favorite part of dance is being able to choreograph dances and creating an opportunity for the dancers to connect with the story line, allowing them to express their hidden/deepest feelings. When Melissa is not dancing, she loves reading, creating digital art, and hanging out with her dog. She loves teaching at Legacy and being apart of each individual dancer's journey.

From the age of five, dance has been a part of Heather Jolley’s life. She began with Scottish dance and then involved ballet, tap, jazz and Irish. Dance has provided Heather with great opportunities, such as: dancing in Ballet West’s Nutcracker, appearing as a featured extra in Disney’s The Luck of the Irish, and being selected as Layton High School’s Dance Sterling Scholar recipient.

Heather began competing with An Coimisiun Le Rinci Gaelecha at the age of 16. She has received training from members of Riverdance, Lord of the Dance, and Trinity Irish Dance Company, and has performed with fiddler Mairead Nesbitt, of Celtic Women fame. Heather also teaches English and Applied Skills full-time at Davis High School.

Tori has been dancing for over 20 years and has been with Legacy since January of 2021. Tori has trained under various studios and disciplines including ballet, contemporary, jazz, and modern dance. She was able to continue dancing throughout college and completed a minor in dance.

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Tori's favorite part about dance is community, and she wants to emphasize a safe environment in the ballet department to allow room to focus on growth.

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During Tori's time as supervisor of the ballet program at Legacy School of Dance, she has loved watching each student progress. She is so grateful for each student she encounters, and looks forward to their futures in dance!

Ellie has been dancing for 16 years and teaching classes of all ages for over 4 years. She has trained in a variety of dance styles including ballet, tap, jazz, contemporary, hiphop, and lyrical. She has  also had the opportunity to train with professionals from Dancing With The Stars, World of Dance, and So You Think You Can Dance. 

In her days of competing, she won various first place and high point with her teams and also as a soloist. Her proudest accomplishment has been taking first place overall  and winning a choreography award with an original piece. She has also been awarded 4 scholarships for her talent over the years.

Ellie also enjoys traveling and attending concerts when she isn’t in the studio but has found that her greatest joy comes from teaching her students.

Ellie has been dancing since age 3 and dancing with Legacy since she was 9 years old. She is now a prelim champ level Irish dancer, and she also has many years of ballet training. She adores teaching her “littles” both Irish and ballet. You may remember her as Tinkerbell in our 2021 production of Never Grow Up (Peter Pan) or The Rose and The Enchantress in our 2022 production of Tale as Old as Time (Beauty and the Beast).

When she’s not dancing she loves hanging out with her friends, doing musical theater at Centerpoint Theater Academy, listening to K-pop, and learning Korean.

Rich began dancing in college when a friend invited him to a class so she wouldn't be alone. It was there that he discovered his passion for ballroom dance. Rich completed the class and went on to join his university's competitive team, where he won multiple awards for his dancing.

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Rich loves all forms of ballroom dance, but has a special love for Latin dancing.

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Rich's passion translates to his teaching and he loves seeing his students understand a new concept or a difficult step. Rich is excited to see his students learn and loves coming to teach class every week.

Eliza has been dancing her whole life, starting when she was 2.  She has a zest for life that is contagious.  Her favorite place to be is the studio dancing with her friends.  She performed the lead role in Peter Pan, and has many other solos and roles in previous performances. She loves geology, baking, playing her trombone and upright bass, making new friends and celebrating birthdays.

Alexa has been Irish Dancing since she was 6 years old. She has been dancing with Legacy since 2016 and teaching since 2021. Alexa competed at the 2015 Western Region Oireachtas and the 2021 US National Irish Dance Championships, as well as local feisanna. Outside of dance, Alexa works as a phlebotomist and is a certified veterinary technician. She also loves music, and plays the violin. Alexa loves teaching and dancing with Legacy, and her favorite part of dance is sharing her love of it with anyone and everyone! 

Ethon Dorrity has been involved in Irish dance for most of his life. His passion for dance started at around 4 years old and was enrolled when he was 5. During his competition stage, he quickly advanced through the levels. He placed 4th at the WIDA World Champions when he was 14 years old.

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Ethon currently teaches the Preliminary and Open Championship level dancers that want to be pushed to win at majors. 

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Although Ethon loves to dance himself, his biggest pride is watching his students succeed. Going to competitions and watching them do well is the biggest joy he has in dance. He is excited to see the future of his dancers and where dance will take them.

Emily entered the world singing and dancing and she hasn’t stopped since. Her formal dance training began at the age of three with a ballet and tap focus. At the ripe old age of nine, she began her Irish dance educaon. Emily loves all dance styles, but Irish is her true love. When she isn’t dancing, Emily enjoys camping and traveling with her family, and singing Broadway show tunes. She loves theatre and performing, and she is currently a member of the Academy at Centerpointe Theatre.

Emily is thrilled that Legacy School of Dance allows her to combine her love of Irish dance and performing on stage. Thus far, playing ‘Wendy’ in Legacy School of Dance’s producon of Never Grow Up! (Peter Pan) has been her favorite role. Emily is so excited to be teaching and sharing her love of dance with others.

Tirza's journey in the dance world began at the age of 8, when she joined our Legacy dance family. Her love for performing has been an unwavering part of some of her earliest memories, driving her to excel in performing and embracing the realm of competitive dance.

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With a passion for both theatre and dance, Tirza eagerly anticipates the annual productions at Legacy, which seamlessly weave together those art forms. Her formative years saw her contributing backstage as an integral part of her academic school's stage crew during both junior high and high school. This experience ignited her fascination with theatrical arts, which she continues to nurture here at Legacy.

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As she grew up and transitioned into adulthood, she discovered her calling to teach. She began her instructive role at 18. Tirza's dedication to teaching is rooted in her desire to inspire growth. For Tirza, the art of teaching is a journey of guidance and shared achievement as she shapes her dancers of today into the stars of tomorrow.