MEET THE STAFF

Kelsey Cutler

Studio Owner/ Director

Kelsey is the Owner of Rise Dance Studio. Kelsey grew up in Utah County but always dreamed of living in St George. In 2018 Her and Her family moved to St George. She absolutely loves it here and feels opening Rise was a big reason she was supposed to be here!

Like many of the dancers at Rise, Kelsey started dancing at age 3. She trained extensively in many different styles of dance including jazz, hip hop, contemporary, ballet, ballroom, tap and tumbling. She found a great love for dance through performing and competing but especially loves the opportunity to share this passion with others through teaching and directing dance. She has been teaching and choreographing dance for 20 years. Her choreography has won national titles for dance studios and drill teams. Her choreography was also featured on "Good Things Utah". She has trained many dancers who are now professional dancers including backup dancers for Selena Gomez, Fergie, Megan Trainor along with others who have competed on So You Think You Can Dance and Dancing with the Stars. Before opening Rise she taught at Center Stage Performing Arts, The Dance Club, The Pointe Acadamy, Studio 1 Dance Center and Move Dance Studio.

She got her degree in Dance at Utah Valley University. There she was on the College Dance Company and the Ballroom Tour Team. Growing up she enjoyed performing with Odyssey Dance Theater's Thriller and in Los Angeles with Mandy Moore's benefit concert, Terpsichoreals. She danced professionally with Center Stage Performing Arts Evolutions of Dance Company.

She also loves spending time with her husband, Mike Cutler, and her 4 beautiful and energetic kids- 1 girl and 3 boys and is grateful for their constant love and support!

Rylee Hilton

Meet Rylee Hilton- our studios company director!
Rylee began dancing at the age of three and has continued to stay apart of the dance world ever since. She trained and competed in many styles including jazz, hip hop, lyrical, contemporary, ballet, and more. The training that she received from her studio gave her opportunities such as dancing in Odyssey Dance Theater’s Thriller and Redux Nutcracker, traveling with conventions, and becoming an instructor at two local studios in High School. From there, Rylee became a member of the Herriman High School’s Drill Team, the Mestenas. She competed in all routines, winning awards at both state and national events. After graduating in 2018, Rylee decided to further her education at Utah Tech University, formally known as Dixie State University. While going to school to receive her degree in Psychology and Communications, Rylee danced on the Dixie Blaze Dance Team for four years, serving as captain her final year. She absolutely enjoyed having the opportunity to show her school spirit at many school events and also loved leading her team to their first ever nationals in Anaheim, California, where they placed second in the nation. While attending the University, Rylee became the first teacher at Rise when the studio was known as Little Valley Dance and classes were held in Kelsey’s basement. She has loved being apart of the studio and she absolutely adores all of her students. She is so excited for another year with the Rise family!

Aubrey Leavitt

Aubrey has been dancing and training for 19 years, mainly in jazz and lyrical/contemporary, but has also trained in ballet, tap, hip hop, and other styles. Aubrey grew up here in Southern Utah where she danced at a local studio. While at the studio she was part of of performance and competition teams which allowed her to compete and participate in conventions in Utah and other states. While in high school she was part of Hurricane High’s dance company for 5 years and was captain her senior year. Aubrey is currently attending Utah Tech University where she is a dance major. Aubrey is working on getting her bachelors in dance and then working towards her teaching degree. Since graduating high school 5 years ago she has been the assistant dance company coach at Hurricane High School. She started teaching at Rise after graduating high school, when classes were still held in Kelsey’s basement. Most recently her dance training gave her the opportunity to travel and study in Florence, Italy for 3 weeks. While there she was able to take classes in many styles and compete. Aubrey’s passions are dancing and teaching. She feels so lucky to be able to teach dance every day.

Allison Park

Allison has been dancing for as long as she can remember. Her mother owned a studio so she was in classes as soon as possible, around 2 years old. Because of this, she grew up in the dance world. Allison trained extensively in many styles of dance. Some of which include jazz, contemporary, lyrical, hip-hop, ballet, pom, and military. She grew up dancing at Dance Explosion, then moved to Synergy Dance Academy at around 10 years old. Allison was on her high school’s drill team, winning awards such as academic all-state and even being selected for the all-region team. Allison is a performer at heart, and loves any chance to perform for a crowd. Football season was always her favorite. While she loves dancing and competing, Allison has always seemed to have a knack for teaching. Since the age of 12, she had the opportunity to be a teacher’s assistant to gain experience, and by the age of 16 she was given her own classes to teach. She has a gift of cleaning choreography and perfecting technique. Allison has also been teaching tumbling for many years. She loves being able to watch her students master the skills they have been working towards. Allison recently moved from the Salt Lake area to St. George and is excited to see what opportunities await!

Heidi Carpenter

Hi, I'm Miss Heidi. I grew up in Orem and then Cedar Hills, Utah, second oldest in a family of ten kids. I attended Ricks (BYU-ID), participating in their Professional Preschool Program, then served an LDS mission in Florida – Spanish speaking, and came back to finish my bachelor’s degree at BYU as a teacher in Early Childhood Education. I have taught preschool for 14 years. I also managed the Gold’s Gym Daycare for many years. My husband and I have been married for 20 years and we have 6 children, Lucy (19), Trevan (17), Travis (13), Titus (7), Suzette (6) and Abigail (2)! We've moved around a lot over the years, and have been excited about planting our roots in St. George as of January 2022. Some of my favorite things to do are: hang with my family, run, bike, exercise, camp/hike, read, scrapbook, and of course teach kids! I find great joy in connecting with preschool kids to help them feel loved, valued, and learn at that age when the window of opportunity is so great! I love seeing their potential and growth through the school year!

Lovaura

Lovaura was born in Dana Point, CA, but moved to St. George when she was 8 years old. It instantly felt like home to her and she has now lived here for 12 years and counting. She has loved dancing ever since she was a little girl. She started at the age of 3, regularly training and competing in a variety of styles including jazz, hip-hop, contemporary, lyrical, ballet, and acro. She danced with studios until the age of 15, performing at Stadium of Fire and participating in dance camps all over Utah. She then became a member of the Desert Hills Tempest Line Drill Team from 2017-2020. While on drill team, she earned two 1st place region titles, a 1st place state title, and competed in all routines all three of her years. She was honored to become captain of her drill team her senior year of high school. This is where she grew many leadership and teaching skills that made her realize how much she would love to teach dance one day. After graduating high school in 2020, she continued to further her education at Utah Tech University. Now she has the privilege of teaching so many adorable kids every week at Rise Dance Studio and could not be more grateful for the opportunity.