As the youngest of the five Stallings girls and the daughter of a creative, dancing mother, Dixie had a flare for dance and other arts starting at a young age. Her mother instilled in all the girls a stage presence and ability to perform with proper expression.

One of her mother’s friends, Wiora Stoney, who had danced with the famous Christensen brothers in a ballet act, came to teach the girls in their basement as their first ballet teacher. Later on, when Willam Christensen first came to Salt Lake City, Dixie and two of her sisters began lessons from him in the Sugarhouse Purrington downstairs studio. Mr. C. taught beginners for only a short period of time, making it a special opportunity for young students to be under his instruction. Subsequently, classes were moved to the University of Utah under the Extension Division.

Dixie’s first teaching experience was when she persuaded two or three neighborhood girls to allow her to teach them in her basement for a short time. This sparked the interest of one of the girls, who was only a year younger, and she ended up studying with Mr. C. as well. The two of them would dance with Utah Civic Ballet together during college.

The decision to major in ballet was fairly easy coming for Dixie. All through high school, her interests were clearly in the arts, excelling in music, dance, speech and art. Throughout her four years at the University of Utah, she performed with University Theater Ballet and Utah Civic Ballet (which later evolved into Ballet West) in five seasons of The Nutcracker Ballet, and every spring performance. Spring Ballet Gala productions included Swan Lake, Toxcatl, Nothing Doing Bar, Beauty and the Shepherd, Serenade, Con Amore, Romeo & Juliet, and Giselle.

Fortunately for her, Dixie’s home had the potential for a basement studio, and her father was kind enough to install barres and mirrors, enabling her to open the Dixie Stallings School of Ballet. She planned class levels and schedules, mailed notices to prospective students, did the bookkeeping, and taught all the classes herself. She paid her expenses and half of her college tuition through her teaching.

During the summers, Dixie performed in the musical productions of Promised Valley and Papa and the Playhouse at Kingsbury Hall. She also danced in University of Utah Summer Festival productions which were held in the Stadium, including Kismet, Manon, and Aida. Her role as dancer/singer Rosalia in West Side Story was probably her all-time favorite. Later, she performed in Pioneer Memorial Theater’s productions of Funny Girl (Mimsy) and Half-a-Sixpence. When Jimmy Durante brought his Variety Show to Salt Lake’s Valley Music Hall, Theater-in-the-Round, Dixie was chosen to dance in his shows.

After being befriended by Jacques d’Amboise, a guest artist with Utah Civic Ballet, and leading man of New York City Ballet Company, Dixie and a friend took off for New York for a summer. Jacques kindly showed her around and she ended up finding employment as a showroom model at Jack Feit Coats and Suits on Seventh Avenue.

Dixie and Jacques D'Amboise

Dixie received her BFA Degree in Ballet and was married the following spring to Chuck Clegg, her high school sweetheart. Soon after, she was invited by the Ballet Department Chairman, Gordon Paxman, to teach university ballet classes as a Teaching Associate. Half way through that year, her husband was drafted into the U.S. Army and left for basic training. When he later received notice he would be going to Viet Nam, Dixie decided to make the best of the situation and headed for California in hopes of dancing professionally.

Dixie’s association with Jimmy Durante proved to be helpful immediately. After contacting the choreographer, Dixie was able to dance in two more of the Jimmy Durante Variety Shows in the California Bay Area and Anaheim. An audition for the Los Angeles Civic Light Opera production of My Fair Lady came next, and Dixie was selected for the cast. It was a wonderful experience to perform for three months in the famous Dorothy Chandler Pavilion at the Los Angeles Civic Center.

Jonathan Lucas, choreographer for the Dean Martin Television Show, was in the audience for one of the My Fair Lady performances, and asked one of his friends in the cast to invite Dixie to the upcoming audition. She did go and was chosen to be a regular dancer/singer on the show. The rehearsals and show tapings were held at the NBC Studios in “beautiful downtown Burbank,” as always mentioned on Laugh-In. Not only was Dixie able to work with Dean Martin, but other famous performers such as Carol Channing, Eva Gabor, Michael Landon etc. It was also an honor to work with the great talent of Tommy Tune, who is well-known for his dancing and choreography.

Dixie and Carol Channing

Because her husband was stationed overseas, Dixie had an interest in the prospect of a USO Tour. She subsequently spent three weeks in Viet Nam on a USO Handshake Tour, meeting and talking with the troops. It just so happened that the military was kind enough to allow her to spend time with her husband whenever possible!

Upon their return to Salt Lake City, Dixie resumed teaching ballet, which continued until the arrival of their first baby. At that time, Dixie felt a desire to concentrate on being a mother and discontinued teaching.

The babies came rather fast, and sometime after number five, Dixie decided to teach her three-and-a-half year-old daughter with some of her friends in a pre-ballet class she held in her home. That was the beginning of “getting back into it.” From there she moved into a studio in the lower level of Zion’s Bank in Foothill Village where she just taught pre-ballet classes.

She was also teaching 6 a.m. Aerobic Dance for adults at Bonneville Elementary School. Hence, she decided to find a location of her own which would enable her to teach the pre-ballet classes and aerobic dance, as well as work back up to the higher levels of ballet. She proceeded to open a studio on 23^rd East and called it The Dance Company. By the time two more babies came, The Dance Company had moved to its present location on 21^st South.

Dixie is blessed to have seven wonderful children, Marty, Brian, Heidi, Andrea, Jeremy, Melanie, and Kimberly. The boys are all fine athletes, having followed after their dad, Coach Clegg. The girls are wonderful dancers and dance teachers, and have contributed greatly to the success of The Dance Company. Now, what would have happened if things had been reversed?!!? There are also ten grandchildren, five boys and five girls, and it’s only just begun!