 She studied with Doris Humphrey in New York City before returning to Salt Lake City in the early 1940s to establish her school for creative dance for children.Virginia Tanner began teaching children at the McCune School of Music and Art in Salt Lake City in 1941, where she was director of the dance program.She went on to establish her own school within the University of Utah's continuing education program, which survives today under the direction of Mary Ann Lee as an auxiliary of the College of Fine Arts at the University of Utah.