Webb and her two sisters were raised in their parents’ dance studio, Hess School of Dance. Her father had trained under the lauded Willam Christensen in Salt Lake City, while her mother trained with Mieczyslaw Pianowski in both Boston and Texas before the two married and opened their own school in Amarillo, Texas. 

Webb started formal classes at 3 years old and had her first scholarship to attend San Francisco Ballet’s summer intensive by the time she was 10. Starting at age 11, she spent half of every summer in New York City at the School of American Ballet and the other half at American Ballet Theatre. “It was our summer vacation—I didn’t see Disneyland until I was an adult,” she says. When Webb was 16, her older sister, Lisa (who would eventually go on to dance with New York City Ballet), moved with her mother to New York City to study year-round at SAB. While they were gone, Webb stepped up to help her dad run the studio in Texas and discovered a passion for teaching. “I did all ages that first year,” Webb says. “I remember teaching a variations class that first year and thinking it was the best thing ever.” 

At 17, Webb followed in her sister’s footsteps and joined SAB full-time (her younger sister, Alexia, would eventually follow suit as well before joining NYCB herself.) “It was total dedication, and I loved every second of it,” Webb says. At 19, she landed her first professional job dancing with the Chicago Opera Ballet with Maria Tallchief, then returned to SAB for a short time before deciding to go to college. She attended the University of Utah, initially majoring in dance but eventually shifting to merchandising, where she developed a love of costuming. At the same time, she danced professionally with a contemporary company in Salt Lake City called American Repertory Dance Theatre.

Finally, at 23, she was ready to follow in her father’s footsteps and open her own studio, called Salt Lake Dance Center. “Our first location was a room in an elementary school that rented space out for visual arts,” Webb says. She was the only teacher for six years but has since expanded to several hundred students, hired many teachers, and outgrown various physical locations. 

In terms of technique, Webb likes to focus on turnout and proper use of the feet. “We do a lot of walking across the floor, making sure [students] understand how their feet should be shaped,” Webb says. When it comes to her choreography, Webb is inspired by the many ballets and modern dance company productions her parents took her to as a child. “My parents spent their money educating us in dance,” Webb says. “I was watching Balanchine choreograph during those years. All that exposure has been important.”

Webb says she strives to discover the needs of her students and tailor her classes to help them grow, but her ultimate mission is even more simple than that. “I just want my students to love dance,” she says. “Not every child will, but I try to find something that sparks their interest.” As for her goals for the future? “I just want to create an atmosphere that is fun. My staff is great. We all really love each other and are like a family here. I’m just really grateful each day that I get to do this.”

Go-to teaching warm-up: “I do a nice 10-minute stretch with pliés before I teach, to prevent injuries. I make sure my body is warmed up for anything. In terms of class preparation, I have so many ideas for steps all the time that I don’t really need to prepare mentally anymore. I hear the music and it comes to me.”

The rules of her classroom: “I’m big on dress code and for the dancers’ hair pulled back. I’m like a pit bull. I make them do it, and eventually they learn. I let them wear a shirt at the barre, but by center I have to be able to see them.”

Teaching attire: “I love anything that feels soft, like leggings. I used to wear full tights and all of that, but I don’t think it’s necessary as long as the students can see what you are doing. You should never look sloppy—you should look like you are there for business.”

Helpful training tools: “For the little ones, we use star wands, colored floor dots, scarves, and other things like that. For my older dancers, I use balance tools, like the Suffolk Balance Board.”

The food she can’t live without: “Avocados. My granddaughter loves them too, so it has to be hereditary.”

Favorite nondance activities: “I love gardening, I love to read, and I love sewing costumes. I’ve sewn many of the tutus for our Christmas show.”

How she relaxes after a long day: “My husband had a stroke six years ago and isn’t well, so I don’t do much relaxing. But if I did, I would read, and listen to classical music. I especially love the greats, like Bach or Beethoven.