Linda Smith, a former member of the Children's Dance Theatre and a department graduate, assumed the role of artistic director for Repertory Dance Theatre. When Repertory Dance Theatre and Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company went their separate directions, university students and graduates had the opportunity to audition for the two professional companies and to study with company members and guests during summer workshops.

In 1969 Loabelle Mangelson-Clawson, a department graduate and charter member of Repertory Dance Theatre, joined the university dance faculty; in 1978 she formed and became artistic director of Performing Danscompany, a student company. Also in 1978 Ballet and Modern Dance became separate departments in the College of Fine Arts. In 1989 the Alice Sheets Marriott Center for Dance was completed on the University of Utah campus and now serves the Ballet and Modern Dance Departments as well as student companies.

Loabelle Mangelson-Clawson