ST. GEORGE —From dance classes taught in racquetball courts to generations of performers who have returned to teach, a performing arts company just danced its way to 40 years in existence. In celebration, the dance studio will put on a magical performance, which they encourage the community to attend.
Candy Lish Fowler, the founder of Southwest Dance Company, told St. George News she always has had a passion for dance. She had the unique opportunity to study under the tutelage of Virginia Tanner and performed with the Children’s Dance Theater at the University of Utah. She was also crowned Utah’s Junior Miss and later worked as the assistant choreographer for the national pageant.
In college, Fowler attended the University of Utah as a presidential scholar in modern dance while also teaching children’s dance. She moved from Northern Utah to Southern Utah in 1977 and in 1979 and taught modern dance at Utah Tech University, formerly known as Dixie State.
Later, Fowler said she connected with Carole Coombs, owner of Green Valley Spa and Resort, who asked her what she needed to start her own dance program in St. George. When Fowler said she needed space, Coombs offered to let her use her racquetball courts.
That’s when she started Southwest Dance Company, 40 years ago, with the goal to provide her children and the community with the same experience she had with Tanner. The group performed at the racquetball courts while her husband built a dance studio in their home.
Through multiple locations and now three owners, the Southwest Dance Company has continued its legacy through multiple generations. Fowler said she is excited to celebrate 40 years and has loved to see how more than one generation has kept the studio alive.
With the ability to watch students of hers return and become instructors in the studio, she said she has loved every minute of it. The dance company and its wonderful spirit have grown with each new instructor as they bring modern dance back into the studio, she said.
“To know that they have developed from their childhood experience, then gone to school, had families of their own, and are now wanting to give this gift back to children through their wonderful talents – it’s just so exciting when you consider that time span,” Fowler said.
Carrying the legacy forward, Fowler’s daughter now serves as the director of Southwest Dance and her granddaughter is a faculty member. She stressed how important the arts are for the community, which she said allows children to express themselves and enrich their lives through movement.
During Fowler’s years as the founder and director of Southwest Dance, she was awarded a grant from the Hanks Foundation, and her dance company was invited to present a concert at the worldwide conference Dance and the Child International. She also has written highly acclaimed original dance plays.
On March 1, 2018, the St. George Arts Commission and then-mayor Jon Pike presented Fowler with the Award of Excellence and Key to the City for outstanding achievement and service in the arts. After retiring from Southwest Dance, Fowler focused on writing and in 2015, her book of poetry, “On the road that knows me,” won the Book of the Year Award from the Utah State Poetry Society, and she was named Utah Poet of the Year.
Denise Crosier, the current owner of Southwest Dance Company, said her four girls have all danced at the studio since they were young. Her two eldest daughters were 5 and 3 when she first discovered Southwest Dance Company, while her other two daughters both started attending the studio at the age of 3.
In 2013, when the studio came up for sale, Crosier, with no background in dance herself, spoke to her husband about the importance of keeping the studio and its mission going. She wanted to keep it running the same way it had been for her girls over the past 13 years. After purchasing the studio, she said the enrollment rate grew by roughly 40% from the previous owner, Natalie Wilson, who had the studio for nine years. The dance studio now has 200 girls in attendance each year with an 80% return rate, she said.
“Denise caught the vision and knew it needed to continue,” Fowler said. “It’s wonderful that she did that. We need this kind of experience for young people. The world really needs this.”
Crosier said the studio changed locations last January and she’s grateful that the previous staff continued on with the change of ownership. She said while they only knew her as a “dance mom,” they trusted her to continue the legacy.
“It’s something I never would have dreamed (would) happen, but it did,” Crosier said.
Katie Smith, daughter of Fowler and artistic director at Southwest Dance, said she was around 8 years old when her mother started the studio. Watching the growth and evolution, she’s had the opportunity to be there since the very beginning. When the studio was in her childhood home, she would observe and listen to her mom teach and eventually became her assistant.
“I honor my mom and what she has done,” Smith said with tears in her eyes.“She was a pioneer in her own right. 40 years is an incredibly long time.”
Smith said she continued to dance and later teach for the studio while she attended Utah Tech University. She went on to serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, then attended Brigham Young University on a dance scholarship, which she said included incredible instruction and mentorship.
After BYU, she wanted to give back, so she came back to teach at Southwest Dance Company.
“My hope is to carry on the wonderful legacy that my mom created and make sure those philosophies aren’t lost,” Smith said. “We’ve been through a lot throughout the years, but the community believes in what we share and what we do.”
Looking back, Smith said, she’s not quite sure how her mom held the studio together with everything she had on her plate. She was the seamstress, the lighting designer, the scriptwriter and the backstage director. She also choreographed all the dances, created the props, designed scenes and even drove to Tower Records in Las Vegas to purchase music for the performances.
“I could look across this faculty lineup and every single one of these women have been involved with either their child dancing or involved in the studio as a child themselves,” Smith said, pointing to the photo lineup of current instructors inside the studio. “Eighty percent of them have come back to contribute because of their own personal experience, and that says something.”
Smith said that all of her daughters have danced through their senior year at Southwest Dance Company and that one of her daughters has now come back to teach.
“Forty years is a long time and a lot of children,” Smith said. “You look at these wonderful people who have come through the studio and how it contributed to their lives, it’s all interwoven in this wonderful legacy.”
Amazed that she was able to attend Southwest Dance Company’s first concert and will now be a part of the 40th-anniversary performance, Smith said it’s both a happy and emotional time.
The Southwest Dance Company’s 40th-anniversary concert will feature modern dance with a storyline surrounding the history of the studio. Smith said this will include what Fowler has brought to the community through her dance company while also giving the dancers a chance to shine. Five senior dancers will also be highlighted during the performance.
“I was just the springboard,” Fowler said. I was the dreamer. I dreamed it for 20-something years. I’m so happy to see the dream be kept alive.”
Southwest Dance Company teaches creative, modern dance, specialized for children ages 3 to 18. For more information on Southwest Dance Company along with the faculty and how to enroll, click here.
Event details
- What: Southwest Dance Company presents The Blosso Gift, a 40th Anniversary Celebration
- When: June 3 and 4 at 6:30 p.m.
- Where: Desert Hills High School, 828 Desert Hills Drive E, St. George
- Admission: Tickets are $10 per person
- For more information, click here.
Photo Gallery
A flyer for the upcoming 40th anniversary celebration features five seniors that will be highlighted during the show, location and date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Denise Crosier, St. George News
Members of Southwest Dance Company perform together on stage, location and date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Katie Fowler, St. George News
Members of Southwest Dance Company perform together on stage, location and date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Katie Fowler, St. George News
Members of Southwest Dance Company perform together on stage, location and date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Katie Fowler, St. George News
Members of Southwest Dance Company perform together on stage, location and date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Katie Fowler, St. George News
Members of Southwest Dance Company perform together on stage, location and date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Katie Fowler, St. George News
Members of Southwest Dance Company pose together on stage, location and date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Katie Fowler, St. George News
Members of Southwest Dance Company perform together on stage, location and date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Katie Fowler, St. George News
Members of Southwest Dance Company perform together on stage, location and date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Katie Fowler, St. George News
Members of Southwest Dance Company pose together on stage, location and date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Katie Fowler, St. George News
A quote by Candy Fowler is seen on on the wall inside Southwest Dance Company, St. George, Utah, May 24, 2022 | Photo by Jessi Bang, St. George News
Candy Fowler smiles for the camera while she was a dance advisor and instructor for Utah Tech University, location and date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Katie Fowler, St. George News
Candy Fowler smiles for the camera while she was a dance advisor and instructor for Utah Tech University, location and date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Katie Fowler, St. George News
Candy Fowler, founder of Southwest Dance Company, smiles for the camera, location and date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Denise Crosier, St. George News
Denise Crosier, current owner of Southwest Dance Company stands inside her studio, St. George, Utah, May 24, 2022 | Photo by Jessi Bang, St. George News
Katie Smith, daughter of Candy Fowler, stands underneath the sign for Southwest Dance Company, St. George, Utah, May 24, 2022 | Photo by Jessi Bang, St. George News
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