This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
When Kelli and Bayli Baker annually shop for the perfect Mother's Day card, they're shopping for a woman who has danced with Michael Jackson, won an Emmy for choreographing the "High School Musical" movies, is a creator of the Cirque du Soleil show "Viva Elvis," and co-choreographed the opening and closing ceremonies for the 2002 Winter Olympic Games. That's just the short list of Utah-born and raised choreographer Bonnie Story's professional credits.
But Kelli, 21, and Bayli, 18, look at each other and shrug when asked about their mother's connections and professional career.
The Baker-Story family is a "Brady Bunch" blend, with all the fascinating complications such configurations bring, and it's easy to tell the girls have had to explain the arrangement more than once over the past 15 years.
"Our mother would do anything for us," Bayli says, "and she has. Plus when Kelli, Bon and I are on a job together, we laugh so hard and have so many inside jokes that we can't even look at each other."
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Growing up with showbiz • Wait, what? How many teenagers drop the showbiz phrase "on a job" with such ease? Or call their mom by her professional nickname, Bon, recognized by film and stage professionals across the country? Clearly, show business is as natural to this family as mother's milk.
"When Kelli was an infant, I was dancing in a Pepsi commercial and would take breaks to go nurse her," Story says. "Later when the girls when were 8 and 10, I took them to a shoot I was doing with Vincent Patterson, one of the biggest director/choreographers in L.A., and they were fine on the set. I knew they would be."
Story's boundless energy permeates everything she does. After 30 years in the cutthroat performing business, the choreographer seems to have no enemies.
World-famous director/producer Kenny Ortega speaks about Story's integrity with the same zeal as Ro Malaga, a west-side Utah kid, now a hip-hop dancer, whose life was changed through Story's generosity. She "has never let her talent or success go to her head," Malaga claims.
"I have so many facets in my life that I am equally invested in," Story says. "I'm a wife. I'm a mom. I'm a teacher. I'm a choreographer. I'm a booster club member. Real life keeps you grounded."
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Boosting and teaching • Yes, it's true: If you want to rub elbows with a world-famous choreographer, join Skyline High School's Booster Club. Story's oldest son, Zach, earned a baseball scholarship to UNLV that begins next year, and the two younger boys, Easton and Tobin, play football for Skyline. She and her husband, Sean, form a tag team in attending their kids' activities, and Story rarely misses a game.
The success behind Team Story's parenting style is to empower daughters and sons to make their own decisions. Whether sports, dancing or going to college, it's up to the individual as long as the decision has been thoroughly considered.
For the past two years, Kelli has been dancing in the Las Vegas Cirque show "Viva Elvis," which her mother helped develop. Bayli is a 4.0 honor student who wants to try her hand at dancing in Los Angeles before applying to colleges.
"People often wonder if the girls have an easier time getting dance jobs because of my influence," Story says. "But trust me, Disney and Cirque do not hire people as favors."
Having different last names helps avoid favoritism and has led to some humorous misunderstandings. After the "High School Musical" auditions, producers apologized to Story that her daughters hadn't made the cut, yet both girls, under their last name, Baker, had gotten callbacks.
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Of dance and life • Story has taught her daughters, and thousands of other students who've come through her studio at Draper's Treehouse Athletic Club, that what's important in dance is also important in life.
"They've never been taught to dance for a trophy," Story says, "they've always danced to express honesty, which is why they're so successful in auditions.
Story credits high-school drama and dance teachers who she says are out there doing the toughest of jobs. "I look at people like Paul Winkleman at Hillcrest High in Midvale, and his work is so fantastic it makes me want to cry."
Honesty and balance are key to Story's success. "I love what I do. I love creating. But you'd better have something in your life that makes you happy other than the business. Because as wonderful as it is, it could easily be gone tomorrow."
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