Mary Ann Lee is the director of the Tanner Dance Program and Children’s Dance Theatre in the College of Fine Arts at the University of Utah, where she is also an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Modern Dance.  She trained with Virginia Tanner and was a member of Children’s Dance Theatre.  She received master’s degrees in dance and French from Mills College and the University of Cincinnati, respectively.  She performed professionally with the Margaret Jenkins Dance Company and Moveable Feast Dance Company in San Francisco and with the Contemporary Dance Theatre in Ohio. Ms. Lee was a dance specialist for the National Endowment for the Arts’ Artists-in-Schools program and taught throughout the United States. 

She has been an invited guest teacher in China, Japan, the Netherlands, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, England, Finland, Canada, and Brazil. Ms. Lee continues to teach at the University of Utah in the Departments of Modern Dance and Education and in the Tanner Dance Program.  She teaches throughout Utah, nationally, and internationally. This year Ms. Lee and Tanner Dance received the Governor’s Award in the Arts.  The Utah Dance Education Organization honored Ms. Lee with a Lifetime Achievement Award at their 2012 Spring Conference for her tremendous contributions to the world of dance and especially the education of young dancers.  In June 2013 Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker and the Utah Arts Festival recognized Ms. Lee with the Mayor’s Award for her artistic contributions to the community.