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Utah dancers on television
This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2008, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Utah dancers are twirling their way into the nation's spotlight, and Hollywood is taking notice. Here are some of the big success stories from the past couple of years.

Ashly DelGrosso, Louis Van Amstel, Andrea Hale: All three became professional dancers on the hit ABC show "Dancing With the Stars." DelGrosso, who stopped to have a baby, could come back next season. Van Amstel, meanwhile, has started his own dance company in Utah County.

Julianne and Derek Hough: The brother and sister from Park City also were professional dancers on "Dancing With the Stars." Julianne won the competition two seasons in a row and later cut her first country music CD. Before starring on the show, Derek starred in the London production of "Footloose."

Sabra Johnson, a dancer from Roy, won last season on Fox's hit competition show "So You Think You Can Dance."

Bonnie Story: Associate artistic director for Salt Lake City-based Odyssey Dance Theatre, co-choreographed all three "High School Musical" movies, winning an Emmy with director Kenny Ortega for the first one. Also is co-chorographer on an upcoming Cirque du Soliel show in Las Vegas about Elvis Presley.

Hefa Tuita: The 16-year-old Spanish Fork dancer is one of six starring in the Nickelodeon show "Dance on Sunset," a modern-day version of "American Bandstand." He's also a featured dancer in the upcoming "High School Musical 3."

Brandon Armstrong and Brittany Cherry: The Utah County 13-year-olds won the first juniors dancing competition on "Dancing With the Stars" last season.

Zack Wilson: The 26-year-old Saratoga Springs dancer won ABC's first season of its "DWTS" spin-off, "Dance War: Bruno vs. Carrie Ann."

Gev Manoukian, Chelsie Hightower, Matt Dorame and Thayne Jasperson: All four Utahns are finalists on this season's hit Fox series "So You Think You Can Dance."

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