Karen & Jef Horne have owned The Studio since 1992
KAREN LEE HEUSSER HORNE loves dance and has danced most of her life. She chose dance as her major at Colorado Mesa University in Grand Junction, Colorado under the direction of Anne Sanders. She continued as a ballet major at the University of Utah where she excelled at performing and choreographing. During her college years she was also privileged to be chosen by Ballet West’s Artistic Director, Willam F. Christensen, to join Ballet West for their 1977 production of ‘The Nutcracker’ dancing in Dance of the Snowflakes. Karen was also a dancer for the Utah Opera’s production of ‘Aida’ and a principal dancer with the Salt Lake City Pioneer Theatre Dance Company.
After graduating from the University of Utah with a B.F.A. in ballet, Karen and her husband Jef were asked to join Ballet El Paso in El Paso, Texas. During her 5 years with BEP she performed as a corps member in productions of Nutcracker, Scheherazade, Carmen, Firebird, & Pulcinella and as a soloist in productions of Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, & Nutcracker. She also has returned several times to Mesa State as a guest teacher for their summer dance workshops.
Karen has a strong, open, and graceful quality to her dancing and enjoys teaching all levels of pointe and assisting Jef in rehearsals at The Studio.
JEF HORNE began his dance training at the age of 9 from Jacques d’Amboise of the New York City Ballet. He attended the School of American Ballet and was in several children’s roles with NYCB’s productions of Nutcracker, Firebird, and Don Quixote under the direction of George Balanchine.
After high school Jef attended the University of Utah where he met his wife Karen. Upon joining Ballet El Paso, Jef danced many solo roles in their many productions and served as Ballet Master. In the midst of his college years he guested with several companies including: Denver Ballet, Bozeman City Ballet, Ballet West, and Salt Lake Dance Center.
Jef earned his M.F.A. from the University of Utah in 1992 and he and Karen were asked to take over The Studio. Since then Jef and Karen have put on many wonderful productions of The Nutcracker and annual Spring Studio shows.
Jef loves teaching dance and choreographing for his dancers.
Karen and Jef have 7 children.
Lindsey Irving (Modern Dance) began studying dance at the age of 7. She was a member of the Uintah Basin Ballet Company for 10 years during which time she performed in numerous ballets and studied clogging and tumbling. She was a 3 year member of Uintah High School drill team during which time she helped her team achieve 2 state championships. She has choreographed numerous drill and dance solos. Among all the dance genres in the BYU dance education program, Lindsey fell in love with Modern Dance during her University training. She has taught private and group classes and was part owner of Dance Studio R in Omak, WA. She is excited to share her love for dance with the dancers at the Studio.
