Denise Johnson was born and raised in Chicago, IL and started her performing career in a park district water ballet class at the age of seven. She attended Elmhurst Community College and Roosevelt University in Chicago, attaining Honors in Legal Writing & Research. Denise developed an arts enrichment program for children, she revealed different areas of the arts children could pursue and get them off the couch!

Because of her love of dance and the performing arts, Denise founded Twilight Dance Company in the late 70s, alongside her dance partner -John Lujan. Together, Denise and John choreographed the dance numbers in Twilight Christmas, St. Patrick's Day Extravaganza, and Summer Night’s Eve productions, as well as a one woman show performer.

Denise studied dance under Jerre Berrington at the Berrington-Aven School of Ballet, one of the oldest and prestigious dance schools in Chicago. Jerre studied dance in the style of Shirley Temple and Tap under the tutelage of Thomas Sheeby, the former ballroom manager of the Trianon Ballroom in Chicago.

The Berrington-Aven School building was incredible, with 20 foot high ceilings, ancient face carvings and a grand ballroom. In the 1920s Hollywood’s greats danced the Charleston in this ballroom. Infamous people like Al Capone came to ballroom dance here. After Jerre’s passing, a wonderful thing happened; Denise was bequeathed the Berrington-Aven School of Ballet by her teacher, Jerre Berrington. She managed the school for an additional 15 years.

Following an automobile accident in 2000, Denise was sidelined for a short period, but continued to manage Berrington-Aven. No longer being able to tolerate the Chicago weather, Denise closed the Berrington-Aven School of Ballet and moved to Lake Havasu City, AZ in 2010.

Determined to continue her lifelong love of dance and performing arts, Denise established the Simply Classical Production company in 2016, and developed an innovative movement program for tots. She offers a variety of movement classes throughout our community as well as her private studio.