OUR TEAM
CHARLY WILLES
Dance Director, Studio Tailor
Charly started dancing when she was two years old. She danced competitively on teams and as a soloist in many styles. These styles included jazz, ballet, lyrical, contemporary, musical theater, tap, and modern dance. She was a member of her high school dance company, cheer team, and did one year of drill. Starting at the age of 16, Charly has been teaching dance for almost 10 years now. She taught at Move Dance Studio until her family moved down to Payson, where she is excited to be part of the Stand Out family. She has two beautiful daughters who love the studio and dance as much as she does. She loves to watch the growth of her students as they develop new skills and new relationships with those in their classes. Dance is and always been one of her greatest joys in life and she loves to share that with her students, and now with her children.
Ellie Williams
Tumbling/Acro Director
Ellie started dancing when she was three years old. Her love for dancing led her to start competing in gymnastics competitions when she turned five. Ellie cheered competitively for 10 years and was a cheer captain on her high school cheer team. Ellie was also a member of the 4A academic Allstate team during her senior year. During high school she helped coach tumbling to many of her peers. After high school, she attended UVU and received her bachelors in Elementary Education. During college, she found her love for coaching. After graduation, she taught first grade for 3 years before deciding to stay hom with her kids. Ellie is also the head cheer coach at Payson high school. She is excited to coach our tumbling programs and cheer camps. In her free time she likes to run, camp, and spend time with her family.
GAYLENE MERCHANT
Dance teacher, Sing and Shout Teacher,
Costume designer
Gaylene Merchant is the founder of Sunshine Singers, the inspiration that sparked Stand Out Singers. Gaylene has blessed children, families, and audiences everywhere- infusing them with the confidence to believe in themselves and each other. She is the mother of seven children, and the founder of the Rain Dancing Swan Scholarship (a scholarship offered to help children with financial need to develop their talents at Stand Out Studios). Gaylene has professionally managed the country band Firefly for 13 years, handling bookings, communications, social media, and directing recordings and music videos. We are grateful to have Gaylene as a dance teacher, costume designer, and sponsor at Stand Out Studios.
MELANIE CLARK
Sing and Shout owner,
Stand Out Studios Director/Owner, Sing
and Shout Director
Melanie Clark is the founder of Stand Out Studios. She has a degree from Brigham Young University in Elementary Education with an emphasis in music and dance. She started Sing and Shout in 2015, following in the footsteps of her mother who owns Sunshine Singers. She performs in the country band Firefly as a lead singer, songwriter, and guitarist. She finds great joy in raising her 4 children in Santaquin, Utah, and loves to help her students develop confidence and self esteem through the arts.
MAISY CROOKSTON
Stand Out Studios Assistant Director,
Singer & Shout Co-director, Ambassadors Vocal Tech Instructor, Private Lessons
Vocal Coach
Maisy has been studying and performing music for her whole life. She is currently studying Music Education at Brigham Young University with an emphasis in voice. She has had the opportunity to study, classical, theatrical, and pop contemporary voice styles throughout her life. She has done countless performances alongside her family. She loves working with the Sing and Shout performers!
MADELYN THURMAN
Sing and Shout Stage Manager,
Private lessons Vocal Coach, Website
Designer
Madelyn has a degree in music from Utah Valley University. She has performed throughout her life in a country trio called Firefly with her sisters, as well as participated in orchestras, choirs, and solo performances. She teaches cello and vocal lessons remotely, as she currently resides in the Pittsburgh area while her husband attends medical school. She has been the Assistant Director and stage manager for Sing and Shout teams for 5 years. She and absolutely adores the sing and shout students!
Jaynee Wohlforth
Dance Teacher
Jaynee grew up on a small farm in Vernon, Utah. She is newly married and comes from a big family with five siblings. She has been competitively dancing for eight years and specializes in hip hop, jazz, contemporary, production, and acro. At the age of 16, she traveled to Estonia as a dance ambassador representing the USA. This is her second year teaching and she is passionate about helping dancers grow in confidence, technique, and performance. Outside of dance, she enjoys spending time with her new husband, their two dogs, a Mini Dachshund and a labrador, and her niece and nephew who are her pride and joy.
Blake Eldredge
Dance Teacher
Blake started dancing when she was two years old. She danced competitively until high school, where she was a part of her high school drill team. After high school she served a mission for her church and came back to earn her elementary education degree. During college she taught dance and is excited to continue teaching here at Stand Out Studios. As well as teaching dance, she will be teaching kindergarten here in Payson. She excels at classroom management, and is excited to share her love of dance with her students!
CLAIRE CLARK
Dance Teacher, Ambassador Dance Tech Instructor
Claire has danced since she was 3 years old and started competing at the age of 6. This last year, her solo dance performance took many awards in competitions all over the west coast. In addition to this, she participated in our Sing and Shout show choir for over 10 years and is so excited to be back to teach! Claire is on her high school cheer team. She is a hard worker, a kind teacher, and an incredible choreographer.
Kaiya Walker
Dance Teacher
A little bit about Kaiya is she loves summer, pepsi, and dancing! Kaiya started dancing when she was two years old and hasn't stopped since. Some of her favorite memories have been with her team at competitions throughout her dancing career. In 2024, she broke her back, and while she had to quit her competitive dance team, she is grateful for the opportunities she has been given to teach dance and to be on Payson High School's student council. She is excited to be the class of '27's senior class president and to continue teaching dance classes this year!
Maren Wood
Ballet Director
Maren got her Bachelor's Degree in Fine Arts with an emphasis in ballet from Utah Valley University. She has taught ballet for United Dance, Charisma, Moga Dance conservatory, The Dance Club, and other studios in Utah as a sub or guest instructor. She has choreographed works for studio and pre-professional companies. Maren has also interned with Joffrey Ballet school in Georgie and colorado and has worked extensively with bally faculty from all over the country through that affiliation. She currently dances professionally with Aspen Ballet company and is very excited for the opportunity to teach at Stand Out!
Jesyca Chugg
Dance Teacher
Jesyca Chugg, from Lake Shore, Utah began her professional training at Jacqueline's School of Ballet at the age of 12. She has competed in various ballet competitions from a young age, including Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP), where she placed in the Top Twelve from 2019 to 2022. She was awarded second place in the Senior Contemporary category and attended the YAGP Finals in Tampa, Florida.
In 2022, Jesy had the opportunity to travel to Tel Aviv, Israel, with the Youth America Grand Prix International Contemporary Ensemble, where she trained and performed works by some of the world’s most renowned contemporary choreographers, including Ohad Naharin, Inbal Pinto, and Sharon Eyal.
After graduating from Spanish Fork High School in 2023, Jesy moved to Madrid, Spain, to join the Nacho Duato Trainee Program. In June 2024, as a member of Compañía Nacho Duato (CND), she performed in the world premiere in Alicante, Spain, before touring across Europe with CND. During the tour, she performed soloist roles in Duende, Na Floresta, Jardi Tancat, and Cantus—Nacho Duato’s latest ballet creation, which had its premiere in November 2024.
In January 2025, Jesy returned to Utah to join the Utah Metropolitan Ballet as a soloist. During the 2025–2026 season, she also served as Ballet Director at The Dance Spot, where she is passionate about fostering a supportive, encouraging environment in which young dancers can grow both artistically and personally while discovering confidence in themselves.
Megan Sorensen
Dance Teacher
Megan started dancing and tumbling at 9 years old and fell in love immediately! She dove in head first and hasn’t looked back since! She started assisting classes with Ms. Angela when she was 15 years old, and has continued to teach and choreograph for many years at The Dance Spot as well as coaching and choreographing for high school cheer. Some of her favorite memories and best lifelong friends were made at the studio both as a dancer and instructor. She took a few year break to raise some babies and is excited to have a little girl to bring to class at Stand Out!
Megan also teaches yoga, works at an orthodontist office and does whatever her 3 kids tell her to do. She loves Disneyland and Lake Powell and being with her favorite people. She is excited to share her love of dance with new tiny friends this season!
Graycee Bishop
Dance Teacher
My name is Graycee Bishop! I love to travel and my favorite drink is any Alani energy drink! I have danced my whole life I started dancing at Central Utah Stars which got switched to The Dance Spot! I’ve trained in many different styles from Hip-Hop, lyrical, contemporary, jazz, tap…etc. I started teaching last year at The Dance Spot and now I’m excited to join Stand Out Performing Arts! I did drill for all 3 years in high school and was co captain my senior year! After I graduated I started to judge Drill Team and this will be my third year judging! I recently started judging dance competitions with Aspire Dance Pro and I love it! I’m so excited to be apart of Stand Out Performing Arts.
Amaris Kennedy
Dance Teacher
Amaris has been dancing for 15+ years! She danced and taught at The Dance Spot. She was also part of her high school drill team. She Loves the outdoors, especially hiking, loves coca cola, music, and most of all loves to dance!!! She has been teaching for 3 years now and has loved all of it! She can't wait to work with all of the incredible staff and students!
Madeline Krull
Dance Teacher
My name is Maddie Krull and I love to dance.
I have been dancing competitively since I was 2 years old and have developed a passion for it.
I performed in all the following dance styles Jazz, Hip Hop, contemporary, Ballet, Tap, and Musical theatre.
My favorite style is Hip Hop and contemporary.
I find great joy in teaching and sharing my love of dance with others. I enjoy and excel in helping everyone feel included and special. My goal is to help each dancer grow and strengthen their abilities and self confidence as they learn to love dance.
Bethany Taylor
Dance Teacher
Bethany Taylor has 27 years of dance experience. She studied dance at Southern Utah University with a dance scholarship. Bethany has been the choreographer for the Manti High School musical theatre program since 2023, has taught at various studios throughout the state, and has been involved in drill team as both a coach and an adjudicator. She and her husband live in Nephi with their 4 kids. Bethany is so excited to be part of the Stand Out family!