From Survival to Joy: How Dance to Uplift Was Born in Mapleton, Utah: West Coast Swing Utah County

If you had met me as a little girl in a small town in Arizona, you would have seen someone who couldn’t sit still when music came on.

Music spoke to me before words ever could.

When it played, I danced. Always.

What you wouldn’t have seen was what I was carrying.

Today, as the founder of Dance to Uplift in Mapleton, Utah, I guide individuals and couples through West Coast Swing, somatic healing, breathwork, and nervous system regulation. But this work didn’t begin as a business plan.

It began as survival.

And it slowly became joy.

This is the story of how dance became my bridge back to my body, and how it now helps others reconnect to theirs.

Growing Up in Arizona: Where Music Became My Language

I grew up in a small town in Arizona. Resources were limited, but country dances were not. In high school, I danced on the dance team, and whenever I could, I found my way to local partner dances.

Partner dancing gave me something I didn’t always feel at home:

Safety.

Structure.

Connection.

But behind the scenes, my childhood was deeply unstable.

By the age of 12, my mother had been married seven times. During those years, I experienced severe abuse, sexual, physical, emotional, spiritual, and ritual abuse. There were deep violations of trust.

There were distortions of faith. There were layers of trauma that followed me long after childhood ended.

My mother’s strength was a lifeline for me. Her resilience shaped who I am today. But even with her example, the imprint of trauma lived in my body in ways I didn’t yet understand.

I learned how to survive.

I learned how to be strong.

I learned how to function.

What I hadn’t learned yet was how to feel safe.

Discovering West Coast Swing in Utah County (And Never Leaving the Swing Room)

In 1997, I joined a country dance team at Utah Valley University. That led me to my first United Country Western Dance Council event, and that’s where everything changed.

I walked into the swing room.

And I couldn’t leave.

West Coast Swing (Utah County) felt different. It was expressive, fluid, conversational. In 1999, at my first West Coast Swing Dance Council event, I watched Jessica Cox and Jordan Frisbee dance a junior routine.

Something in me clicked.

This wasn’t just dance.

This was language.

This was connection.

This was home.

That same year, I got married and began building my family. Within five years, I had four children.

Life was full, busy, and demanding.

Dance became the thread I held onto.

I traveled to events when I could. I social danced on weekends. I kept learning. I kept training. Even before I understood the neuroscience of trauma, I now see clearly that West Coast Swing was regulating my nervous system.

Because of my trauma history, I lived with Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID). Dance grounded me. It anchored me. It brought me back into my body when dissociation wanted to pull me away.

The dance floor was doing something medicine hadn’t yet fully explained.

It was helping me stay present.

When the Past Caught Up With the Present

In my early 30s, while raising four children and navigating an unhappy marriage, something became painfully clear:

My past was shaping my present.

My trauma wasn’t “over.”It was operating quietly beneath the surface.

The next decade was the deepest healing work of my life. There were body memories. There was dissociation. There were moments of suicidal ideation. There was the long, painstaking process of rewiring belief systems formed in survival.

Healing was not smooth.

It was not linear.

It was not quick.

I worked through modalities including:

• DNMS

• Somatic Experiencing

• Breathwork

• Meditation

• Spiritual practices

• Dance

  
  

And somewhere in the middle of all of that, something shifted.

Dance stopped being just joy.

It became integration.

On the dance floor, I learned:

• How to feel connection without fear

• How to experience joy safely

• How to stay present in my body

• How to trust my nervous system again

  
  

West Coast Swing became prayer.

It became sovereignty.

It became reclamation.

From Personal Healing to Purpose: The Birth of Dance to Uplift

Over time, I began teaching more intentionally. And something surprising happened.

Students weren’t just improving their technique.

They were softening.

They were gaining confidence.

They were communicating better in their relationships.

They were calming their nervous systems.

I realized something important:

Dance is relational nervous system work.

When you learn to lead and follow, you are learning:

• Trust

• Boundaries

• Listening

• Regulation

• Co-regulation

  
  

In Utah County, many people come to dance for fun. And yes, it is fun. But underneath the steps and patterns, something deeper is happening.

At Dance to Uplift in Mapleton, Utah, we integrate:

• West Coast Swing partner dance

• Somatic awareness

• Breathwork

• Nervous system regulation

• Conscious communication

• Play

  
  

Because healing doesn’t just happen in therapy offices.

It happens in safe connection.

The Courage to Fully Step In

For years, I knew this work was part of my purpose. But knowing and committing are two different things.

I had a family to support.

I had real responsibilities.

I had practical questions.

How do I make this sustainable?

Can I build a business rooted in joy?

Am I allowed to choose something that lights me up?

Fear whispered loudly.

Scarcity whispered louder.

I was deeply conditioned to support others while doubting my own worth. Helping people felt natural.

Building something for myself felt unfamiliar, even unsafe.

It took years of inner work to clear old programming around worth, scarcity, and trust.

Teachers like Gabrielle Bernstein influenced my mindset shift around “choosing again” and leaning toward joy instead of fear. Slowly, I began to believe something radical:

Joy is not irresponsible.

Joy is alignment.

In July, I finally stopped standing on the edge and stepped fully in.

Since then, opportunities have aligned in ways that feel almost miraculous: connections, collaborations, students showing up at exactly the right time.

But those “miracles” were built on years of inner healing.

The outer expansion followed the inner work.

What Makes Dance to Uplift Different in Utah County?

Dance to Uplift is not just about learning patterns.

It is about learning yourself.

Our mission is simple:

Live in Love.

Move with Meaning.

Play Passionately.

Here’s what that looks like:

Live in Love – Couples Date Night Series

A 4-week West Coast Swing couples series designed to:

• Build trust

• Strengthen communication

• Increase patience

• Celebrate wins together

  
  

Perfect for couples in Utah County who want connection beyond dinner and a movie.

Move with Meaning – Leveled West Coast Swing Classes

Small, intimate class settings.

No partner necessary.Focused on:

• Technique

• Musicality

• Building confidence

• Personal expression

  
  

Designed for dancers who want growth and depth.

Play Passionately – Ladies Night Out

A women-only experience integrating:

• Breathwork

• Somatic release

• Movement

• Connection

  
  

A space to exhale.

A space to release.

A space to reconnect with joy.

One-on-One Coaching

Private West Coast Swing coaching combined with breathwork and somatic tools for deeper integration.

A Story That Shaped Everything

In my twenties, while working in a chiropractic office, I was asked to move once a week with a bedridden man as part of his therapy. Dance had once been something he and his wife shared.

Each week, our time became his exercise.

A year after I moved away, his wife wrote to tell me he had passed. She shared that those weekly dance sessions brought him so much joy that she believed they gave them another year together.

That letter has never left me.

Dance is not just movement.

It is dignity.

It is connection.

It is emotional medicine

That experience shaped how I see this work forever.

If You’re in Utah County and Looking for More…

You don’t need:

• Experience

• A partner

• Confidence

• A dancer’s background

  
  

You just need a body.

And a willingness to listen to it.

If you’re in Mapleton, Pleasant Grove, Provo, Spanish Fork, or anywhere in Utah County and looking for:

• West Coast Swing dance classes

• Couples connection experiences

• Somatic healing through movement

• Breathwork classes

• Nervous system regulation tools

• A community rooted in joy

  
  

Dance to Uplift meets you exactly where you are.

My story includes trauma.

It includes pain.

It includes years of healing.

But more than anything, it includes choice.

Choosing again.

Choosing connection.

Choosing joy.

And that choice is available to you too.

You can find my story in the magazine VoyageUtah HERE