Meet the Faculty

Brittney Wakefield
BYU Youth Dancesport Program Director

Brittney is originally from Orem, Utah and started ballroom dancing at the age of twelve in the BYU Youth Ballroom Program. She grew up competing on the Youth Teams, as well as competing in all styles individually. One of her greatest competitive achievements was winning the U.S. Youth National Ten Dance Title and U.S. Youth American Title in 2002. She danced on the BYU Tour Team in college and toured the United States, South Pacific, Ukraine, Western Europe and Asia.

She met her husband, Craig, when they were on the BYU Youth Dancesport Junior B Team at age 12. Brittney and Craig directed the Timpview High School Ballroom Program for two years growing it to more than 250 students including 6 competitive formation teams, several of which placed in the top five in Division I of the National Dancesport Championships. She is ISTD Licentiate certified in Ballroom & Latin styles of dance. Brittney has coached 5 out of the 6 Junior & Youth teams in our program during the past nine years of coaching in the Youth Program, and has coached the Junior A & Youth A Teams to more than 10 National Championship titles.

In addition to ballroom, Brittney has coached multiple genres of dance/tumbling for the past twelve years, teaching preschool students through adult. She has a Bachelor's Degree from Brigham Young University in Marriage/Family/Human Development and has taken numerous courses focusing on child psychology and development. Brittney is entering her tenth year of working in the Youth Program and loves working with all of the dancers and families every year.

Tiffany Gunnell
BYU Youth Dancesport Administrative Assistant / Junior B1 Team Director

​Tiffany is excited and honored to be a member of the BYU Youth DanceSport faculty. She started dancing at the age of 9 and joined the BYU Youth DanceSport program at age 11, being placed on the Preteen A team. Throughout her years in the youth program she had the privilege of winning 9 National Formation Championship Titles, with the Preteen, Junior and Youth teams.

In addition to competing with the Preteen A, Seventh Grade, Junior A, and Youth A teams. She also competed and placed regularly in Syllabus, Open Rhythm, Open Latin, Open Smooth, and Open Ballroom with her 8 partners. This includes winning Adult Novice Smooth at the NDCA Utah DanceSport Challenge and becoming the vice-champions of Adult Novice Ballroom at the 2020 United States National Amateur Championships.

Tiffany has also trained in Jazz, Lyrical, Ballet, and Musical Theater. When not dancing Tiffany loves being outside, watching movies, and spending time with her family and friends.

Tiffany recently returned home from serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Fort Worth, Texas. Upon her return, while continuing her education, she is starting her photography business and was recently crowned an attendant in the 2024 Days of ‘47 royalty.

She is looking forward to a wonderful year working with the Junior B team.

Kim Harris
BYU Youth Dancesport Costume Assistant

Kim Harris fell in love with ballroom dance during her first class in 7th grade. Her passion led her to the Utah Valley University tour team, where she met her husband. Together, they’ve shared their love of dance with their five children, all of whom have found joy in ballroom.
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Kim has been a devoted coach in the Danzinskule elementary program, where she not only mentored young dancers but also sewed many of their costumes. In recent years, she’s enjoyed contributing to the BYU Youth Ballroom program, skillfully altering costumes and spending countless hours adding rhinestones. Kim brings creativity, dedication, and a deep love for dance to everything she does.

Nathan Stevenson
​​​​Youth A Team Director

Nathan is from Provo, Utah, and has been dancing ballroom since he was 12 years old. After two years in a school dance program, he joined BYU Youth Dancesport and danced there for four years. His experience in the Youth Dancesport Program is where he first discovered his love for formation dancing, which became a lasting passion.

He then continued his dance journey at Brigham Young University, where he was a member of the Ballroom Dance Touring Company for four years. Nathan loved his time on the Touring Company and valued the opportunity to train, perform, and compete with such a talented and dedicated team. During those four years, he traveled across the United States and internationally to England, Switzerland, France, Spain, Belgium, and Germany. He also competed at the prestigious Blackpool Dance Festival, where he became a British Latin Formation Champion in 2019.
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While at BYU, he served as co-president of the Ballroom Dance Company for two years and was selected to represent BYU at the Chinese Vienna Ball in Austria in 2020. He also earned his degree from BYU in Experience Design and Management, with a minor in ballroom dance.
Nathan has competed individually in the Ballroom, Smooth, and Latin styles, earning recognition as a multiple-time U.S. National Amateur Smooth Finalist. He has a deep love for formation dancing and is thrilled to be part of the BYU Youth Dancesport Program again this year!

Mina Brunson
Youth B1 Team Director

Zara Mina Brunson started competitively training in Ballroom dance at 12 years old, a couple years after being introduced it at an after school ballroom program and has had a passion for dance ever since. She is an alumni of the Youth program and was on the BYU Youth B1 and A team while being on her high school ballroom team her junior and senior year. Mina is a member of the BYU ballroom touring company and has toured in various countries in Europe and Southern Africa. She was a member of the champion Latin formation team representing the USA and BYU at the Blackpool dance festival last spring. She has trained competitively in the youth/amateur Latin, Smooth and Standard styles of ballroom dance. Some of her accomplishments are being a national amateur smooth finalist and a national champion in the adult amateur pre-champ smooth, standard, and Latin categories. She is also a UBEA state titleholder. Mina is currently a Social and International dance teacher at BYU for college students and is a technique coach outside of BYU. She is studying communications at BYU and getting a minor in ballroom dance. She is super excited to give back to the youth program that contributed heavily to her love of ballroom dance. When she’s not dancing she loves drinking chocolate milk, hanging out with friends/family, and being outside on sunny days!

James Lear
Youth B2 Team Director

James is thrilled to be coaching the BYU Youth B2 Team this year! He began ballroom dancing as a 5th grader in Washington state and trained at Pacific Ballroom Dance before joining the BYU Ballroom Dance Company, where he competed and performed for several years. During his time at BYU, James earned both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Information Systems and was a dedicated member of the Ballroom Dance Company, touring and competing internationally. He continues to stay involved in the ballroom community through coaching and mentoring.

Outside of dance, James works professionally as a data engineer and runs his own food truck business, The Nug, which serves absurdly good chicken nuggets throughout Utah. He speaks Russian, served an LDS mission in the Baltic States, and is a classically trained pianist who has performed in 10-piano Suzuki concerts in Japan. James and his wife love traveling, playing games, and finding new ways to balance their creative and entrepreneurial pursuits. They currently live in Lehi and are always up for a new adventure.
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James is passionate about creating meaningful and memorable experiences through dance and is excited to work with such promising young dancers this season!

​Ashlyn Burnside
Junior A Team Director

Ashlyn is so excited to be a part of the BYU Youth program this year! She began her dance career in her elementary school's ballroom program at 9 years old then danced with the BYU Youth program for 6 years starting in 7th grade. Ashlyn is currently a member of the BYU Ballroom Dance Company and has toured in Belgium, South Africa, Botswana, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and competed at the Blackpool Dance Festival in 2023. She also currently serves as the company president, teaches two 100 level dance classes at the university, and looks forward to continuing her own competitive dance career. Lastly, Ashlyn was selected as American Fork High School's Dance Sterling Scholar for her accomplishments in modern contemporary in addition to her ballroom career.

Outside of dance, Ashlyn and her husband, Zachary, enjoy playing pickle ball, hiking, camping, fishing and being with friends and family. Additionally, Ashlyn is very passionate about flowers and recently started her own company creating flower arrangements and bouquets for weddings and other events. She looks forward to an exciting year of wedding flowers. Together they have been married for 2 years and enjoy living a busy life together.

Ashlyn is truly enthusiastic about dance and is excited to be working with such talented dancers on the Junior A team!

Leah McNatt
Junior B2 Team Director

Leah is from Bournemouth, England and moved to the US when she was 19 to study at BYU. She is beginning her fifth and final year as a Dance BA student, minoring in Mathematics and Family Life. Leah began her ballroom journey when she came to BYU and has progressed to become a teacher in the BYU Social Dance Program. She has been a member of the BYU Ballroom Dance Company for three years, enjoying her time as both a team member and a team captain. 

At her home studio in England, Leah grew up training in Ballet, Tap, Modern, Contemporary, and Commercial dance styles, also having the opportunity to teach classes and personally mentor students. Leah enjoys dancing through life and doesn’t plan on stopping anytime soon! Leah’s husband, Logan, is also a ballroom dancer and together, as competitive partners, they have enjoyed competing Ballroom, Latin, Smooth, and Rhythm.
Outside of dance, you will find Leah appreciating the sky, and all the beauties of nature. She loves to be with friends, play games, groove around in the kitchen, and go on walks with her husband.
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Leah is delighted to be working with the fabulous Junior B2 Team this year and is excited to share her passion for dance, creating spectacular memories along the way!

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Jacee Peterson
Pre-Teen A Team Director

From Saratoga Springs, Utah, Jacee started dance in the kitchen with her parents. Growing up with a love of dance, ballroom has taken her to incredible places. She was in the Youth program for nine years before she graduated high school and went straight to the Ballroom Company at BYU. She is a currently a member of the BYU Touring Company. With the company, she has traveled to four countries in Southern Africa and three in South East Asia. This year she is ready for the challenge to compete for the British World Championship Formation title in Blackpool! 

While performing alongside team members is her true passion, Jacee also competes individually. She trains heavily in the International Standard and American Smooth styles. Recently, her favorite part of competing is to hear her mighty preteens cheer her on from the side of the competition floor. 

This is Jacee’s second year coaching Preteen A and she can’t believe how lucky she is. She hopes to instill the same love for dance she gained in her preteen years through hard work, lots of giggles, and the occasional swig bribe! In her opinion, coaching these dancers has changed her for the better.

Megan Moe
Pre-Teen B Team Director

Megan was introduced to ballroom at BYU, when her RA needed her hair done. It was love at first sight, and she's been passionate about the sport ever since.

​She worked her way up the BYU ballroom program, making the tour team, competing in Blackpool, England, and touring Europe and China. She served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints to Samara, Russia, served as the BYU ballroom club president, received high honors in her gold bar ballroom exam, and after graduating with a BS in Public Health was asked to coach the BYU preteen team with her husband, Sean. Together, they coached their teams to 6 Division 1 national titles in 4 years. Megan is ISTD licentiate certified in International Latin and Ballroom styles, and has been coaching or teaching preteens for 15 years.

She is excited to be back with the BYU program, and truly loves working with these energetic and enthusiastic dancers! 

Laurel Hornberger
BYU Youth Dancesport Program Administrator

Laurel Hornberger works in Conferences and Workshops at BYU as an Assistant Program Administrator.  She, and various student planners, help the director with the ​logistics of the Youth Dancesport program.  ​