This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Megan Skalla, a 16-year-old dancer from Draper, is one of three finalists in Dance Spirit magazine's national cover model search.

For Megan, who has been dancing since she was 3, it started when she submitted video of her work to the magazine. From the videos, "the editors chose two from each month," Megan said.

"I dance all genres of dance," she said, adding that "contemporary and ballet are my favorite." For the video, Megan danced a contemporary solo choreographed by Joey Dowling called "Possibility."

"Joey picked the music. She felt it would be a good fit with the movement she had in mind for me."

It must have been a good fit, as the solo got her to the finals. The editors winnowed their choices to the three dancers who will be featured in the magazine's July/August issue.

Megan received an email inviting her to New York in April, where she performed her solo for the judges.

While Megan was in New York, she took classes at the Broadway Dance Center. "It was really great," Megan said. "We were there for three days. We were in the classes with professional dancers on Broadway."

"My favorite part was the photo shoot," Megan said in the intro to her video online. It was "so much fun to be around the camera with all these girls"

The final stage of the model search is for Dance Spirit readers to vote for their favorite dancer. (See box for Web link.)

Megan trains with Orem's Dance Club. She was chosen at age 12 to dance the role of Clara on tour in the 2008 Radio City Rockettes' "Christmas Spectacular." Now she's in final rehearsals with Dance Club for a national competition in Las Vegas called "The Event."

In its March issue, the magazine named Megan as one of 10 contemporary dancers to watch, calling her a "pristine technician" with "an alluring stage presence."

Check out video — and vote

To view finalist Megan Skalla's video in Dance Spirit magazine's cover model contest, visit http://www.dancespirit.com/2012-cover-model-search-megan-skalla. To vote, click on the "Vote for Me" link.