Johnson started formal dance training at the age of 16 at Dance Impressions in Bountiful, Utah, under the direction of mother-daughter team Kandee Allen and Vivian Colobella. She then moved down to Las Vegas, NV and trained at The Dance Zone, under the direction of other Colobella daughter Kaydee Francis and partner Jami Artiga. Before training in dance, Johnson had a previous background in gymnastics. Her dance training consists of jazz, ballet, contemporary, and gymnastics, with some experience in hip hop, modern, tap, and theater. Johnson's favorite style of dancing is jazz. Before auditioning for So You Think You Can Dance, Johnson was going on to her fourth year of being a dancer. Johnson had a backup role on the hit film High School Musical as one of the skater dancers in the "Stick To The Status Quo" scene.
Contestant on ''So You Think You Can Dance''
On the first episode of the show, Johnson was paired up with b-boyDominic Sandoval, and they remained partners for five weeks. Each week, Johnson and her partners were required to reach into the hat with paper slips containing a variety of dance styles. The pair performed a disco routine during week one, a contemporary routine during week two, a rumba during week three, a hip hop during week four, and a jive during week five. The couple landed themselves in the bottom three couples only once which was during the first week. After week five, there were only ten dancers remaining in the competition. After Johnson made it into the top ten, she was separated from Sandoval because of the rules for the top 10 competition. In week 6, Johnson was randomly paired with contemporary/hip hop dancer Kameron Bink for the next dance where they performed a contemporary routine. Bink was eliminated on the following results show. In week 7, Johnson was randomly paired with ballroom dancer, Pasha Kovalev, for the next performance where they performed a Broadway routine and a quickstep. In week 8, Johnson was randomly paired with contemporary dancer Neil Haskell for the next dances where they performed a jazz routine and a paso doble routine. During the following results show, Johnson was announced as a top 4 finalist of the season. Throughout the season Johnson was praised for her passion, enthusiasm, prodigious talent, personality, strong dancing and versatility in the different routines. In the end, Johnson garnered more votes than her fellow finalists and was subsequently crowned America's favorite dancer, beating out Danny Tidwell, Neil Haskell, and Lacey Schwimmer.
Performances
Note: Results highlighted in red indicate that contestants placed in the bottom dancers or couples, but may not have necessarily been eliminated.
Post SYTYCD
Since winning SYTYCD, Johnson has concentrated on teaching rather than dancing, but has expressed a desire to pursue a professional dancing career, possibly even on Broadway. Johnson has made appearances as a performer and teacher at numerous events and workshops, appearing at charity events. As part of those activities, she has travelled abroad to locations such as Iceland, Australia and South Africa. In 2008, Johnson was a pro dancer at the Dance Times Square Showcase benefit held on October 25. She was partnered with SYTYCD finalist Neil Haskell. In 2009, Johnson began the year as the Special Guest Artist at the Merrimack Hall Second Annual Evening of Dance in Huntsville, Alabama. She later appeared at the St. Louis Auto Show and was a member of the Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet company in New York City for a time. Johnson taught dance master classes for the East Coast Movement on August 25, 2010, along with Kameron Bink. In addition Johnson has taught Jazz dance internationally, and as of 2017 was working closely with the Dancenter in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Through the Dancenter she formed a working partnership with the Urban Dance Group where she is choreographing and directing her first full length interactive dance show, 'Between Us'.
