Area: Ballet
About:
Shayla Bott is a Professor at Brigham Young University (BYU) where she serves as the Chair of the Department of Dance. From the University of Utah, Shayla holds a BFA in ballet performance and an MFA in ballet with a focus on music, choreography and pedagogy. She has taught in private studios and in the university setting at Utah Valley University (UVU) and the University of Utah and has served as Artistic Director of BYU Theatre Ballet, BYU Theatre Ballet Studio Company, and Repertory Ballet Ensemble (UVU). After retiring from a professional career with Utah Metropolitan Ballet, she has continued to choreograph and teach in professional and academic venues. Shayla’s choreography has won several choreographic awards including Utah Regional Ballet’s Choreography Design Project Competition (1st place in 2008, 2010, 2016 and 2nd place in 2012) and the National Choreographic Recognition Award in 2012 from Regional Dance America in Montréal. She has staged original works on Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, Ballet Arkansas, Santa Cruz Ballet Theatre, Idaho Regional Ballet, Utah Metropolitan Ballet, Ballet West Summer Intensive, and student ensembles at BYU, UVU, and the University of Utah. She has presented works at Chop Shop: Bodies in Motion contemporary dance festival in Bellevue, Washington and On Site: Mobile Dance Series. She is an affiliate ABT® National Training Curriculum instructor, and has successfully completed the ABT® Teacher Training Intensive in Pre-Primary through Level 7 of the ABT® National Training Curriculum. She is a STOTT Pilates certified instructor and works to help rehabilitate injured dancers. She is a certified level 1 4Pointe instructor, currently working on level 2 and 3.
Research Interests:
curriculum design; cross-training, rehabilitation, and injury prevention for dancers; music for the ballet technique classroom and choreography; Kinesiology for Dancers and Dance Science; and contemporary and neo-classical ballet choreography.