Shayla Bott

Shayla Bott’s path to dance began long before she stepped into university leadership. She trained at the University of Utah, earning a BFA in ballet performance and later an MFA in ballet with a focus on music, choreography, and pedagogy. Her early career unfolded on stage as a professional dancer with Utah Metropolitan Ballet. Even after retiring from professional performance, she remained deeply involved in the field, choreographing and teaching in both professional companies and academic settings. 

Her teaching career has taken her through private studios and universities, including Utah Valley University and the University of Utah, before she eventually joined the faculty at BYU. There she has served in numerous roles, including artistic director of BYU Theatre Ballet, artistic director of BYU Theatre Ballet Studio Company, and ballet area coordinator. Today she is both the chair of the BYU Department of Dance and the associate dean of faculty in the College of Fine Arts and Communications. 

Bott’s creative work has earned wide recognition. Her choreography has received multiple awards, including first place in the Choreography Design Project Competition hosted by Utah Metropolitan Ballet in 2008, 2010, and 2016, as well as a second-place award in 2012. That same year, she received the National Choreographic Recognition Award from Regional Dance America in Montréal. Her original works have been staged by companies and schools across the country, including Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, Ballet Arkansas, Santa Cruz Ballet Theatre, and Idaho Regional Ballet, as well as student ensembles at BYU, UVU, and the University of Utah. Her choreography has also appeared at festivals such as Chop Shop: Bodies of Work in Bellevue, Washington, and the On Site mobile dance series. 

Alongside choreography and teaching, Bott has developed a strong interest in dancer health and training. She is a certified instructor in STOTT Pilates and an affiliate instructor for the American Ballet Theatre’s National Training Curriculum after completing intensive training from Pre-Primary through Level 7. Her work often focuses on helping dancers rehabilitate injuries and develop safer training methods. At BYU she teaches courses such as DANCE 342: Kinesiology for Dancers and conducts research that blends Pilates-based corrective work with ballet technique, with particular attention to fascial connectivity and long-term dancer health. 

Whether she is mentoring students, choreographing new works, or guiding the direction of a major dance program, Bott’s work reflects a lifelong belief that ballet is not only about mastering technique. It is about shaping artists who understand how movement can communicate meaning, connect communities, and elevate the human experience.