Dancer and choreographer DeAnne Sherman is an important member of Woodbury’s arts community

DeAnne Sherman can’t remember a time when she wasn’t dancing. “Dance has been my passion,” she says, from her first studies as a toddler in St. Paul to her rigorous training at St. Catherine University. Sherman lives in Woodbury with her husband Dudley and has danced her way through motherhood, a busy career and beyond. She opened her own Woodbury studio in 1977 when she couldn’t find a dance instructor for her daughters and decided to look closer to home. “I’m proud of my work,” Sherman says with a smile. “It was a real family affair.” That’s no exaggeration: daughters Lisa and Michelle studied with Sherman and even taught their own classes. Sherman’s own mom, Lucy Rozenberg, designed and sewed costumes. Sherman’s deep desire to give back to her community shows up these days at Woodbury Community Theatre (WCT), where she’s choreographed and performed in shows for almost 40 years. “It has been a privilege to watch WCT grow and to see the arts thrive in Woodbury,” she says. She also is a member of the liturgical dance team at St. Ambrose of Woodbury Catholic Church. “It’s prayer through movement,” she says. “It touches people in a way that other forms of prayer haven’t.”Michelle Witte, WCT’s vice president, puts it simply. “DeAnne is a joy to work with,” she says. “She helps people achieve more than they ever thought.”