Born to Dance

Hailing from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Michelle Dorrance has been tap dancing since the age of four and performing since the age of eight under her mentor, youth tap trailblazer, Gene Medler. Michelle was formally trained at The Ballet School of Chapel Hill, founded by her mother, M’Liss Dorrance. Michelle joined Medler’s groundbreaking North Carolina Youth Tap Ensemble (NCYTE) in the late 1980’s. She performed and toured extensively with NCYTE for the next decade across the states and at the first major international tap dance festivals held in St. Louis, Chicago, Vienna and Rio de Janeiro. It was during this time that the ensemble came to be known as the premiere youth tap company in the world. Before graduating from high school, Michelle became the youngest cultural ambassador to Saratov, Russia, representing Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

Growing up in Chapel Hill, Michelle developed a great love for unique, independent music, and was invited to dance with swing-revival icons, The Squirrel Nut Zippers, while still a teenager. She maintains this passion for independent music today and has been invited to appear with underground music icons Bitch and Animal, Bitch & the Exciting Conclusion and Darwin Deez, with whom she collaborates as deez and deez.

New York

Since moving to New York City in 1997, Michelle has worked with Heather Cornell's Manhattan Tap, Barbara Duffy & Co., Max Pollak's Rumba Tap, Tony Waag's Tap City on Tour and co-founded CPD with Andrew Nemr and Nicholas Young. She is honored to have been a founding and long-time member of Savion Glover's company Ti Dii, performing at the Cannes Film Festival's Opening Ceremonies, the "Jerry Lewis Telethon," the 2002 Winter Olympics, and The Nijinsky Awards of Monaco, among others. Ti Dii was featured in Glover's World Premiere and sold-out run of Improvography at the Joyce Theatre in New York City. Michelle is also proud to have acquired a Bachelor of Arts from New York University's prestigious Gallatin School of Individualized Study.

Solo Work

Michelle has since established herself as an accomplished solo artist, teaching master classes and performing throughout the world. These events include the North Carolina Rhythm Tap Festival, Rhythm Kaneko's "Groovin' High" in Tokyo, the International FeetBeat Festival in Helsinki, the New York City Tap Festival, Tap Encontro in Rio de Janeiro, both the Düsseldorf and the Heidelberg Stepptanz Festivals and the Stuttgart Tap Festival in Germany, Hoofin’ Ground, the Israel Tap Festival, the LA Tap Festival, the Chicago Human Rhythm Project, the Beantown Tap Festival, Tapology Tap Festival, the Vancouver Tap Festival and workshops from Montana to Moscow. Michelle has been teaching tap on faculty at Broadway Dance Center since 2002 and has also been a guest teacher at Steps on Broadway, Peridance Center, Duke University, New York University, East Carolina University, Ohio State University, Barnard College, Elon College as well as numerous privately owned studios and national conventions. She owes her passion for teaching to the great and constant teachers in her life, her mother, M’Liss Gary Dorrance, her father, Anson Dorrance, Gene Medler, Josh Hilberman and Dianne Walker.

Choreography

Michelle's choreography is currently performed throughout the country and internationally. It has been showcased at Jacob's Pillow with Cintia Chameki's Ritmico, at Birdland with members of the Duke Ellington Orchestra, at the Joyce Theatre, the Duke on 42nd St. and Symphony Space in the New York City Tap Festival Galas, as well as in a commercial for Toyota Taiwan. And in 2007, The Brothers Timofeyevich won second place at the World Championships in Germany performing her choreography.

Recent Work

In 2007, Emmy Award-winning choreographer Jason Samuels Smith invited Michelle to be a member of the trio in Charlie’s Angels: A Tribute to Charlie Parker performed at the Duke on 42nd St. in New York. Michelle was also featured in the 2006 premiere and one-month run of Derick Grant’s Imagine Tap! at Chicago’s Harris Theatre. Other recent projects include performances with Ayodele Casel's Diary of a Tap Dancer in Washington, D.C.’s Lisner Auditorium, legendary Mable Lee's Dancing Ladies and Dr. Harold Cromer's original Opus One. Most recently Michelle has toured with Lynn Daly’s Los Angeles-based Jazz Tap Ensemble, performing the NEA-funded American Tap Masterpieces: Hollywood Journey.

Gratitude

Michelle is incredibly indebted to the Masters of this great American art form with whom she has had the opportunity to study, perform and be surrounded and continually influenced by: Gene Medler, Dianne Walker, Josh Hilberman, Savion Glover, Barbara Duffy, Van Porter, Sam Weber, Ted Levy, Mark Mendonca, Brenda Bufalino, Gregory Hines, Nicholas Young, Dormeshia Sumbry-Edwards, Derick Grant, Jason Samuels-Smith, Ayodele Casel, Dr. Harold Cromer, Mable Lee, Maceo Anderson, Dr. Peg Leg Bates, Dr. Fayard Nicholas, Dr. Leonard Reed, Dr. Henry LeTang, Dr. Buster Brown, Dr. Cholly Atkins and Dr. Jimmy Slyde. Michelle is grateful for their indefatigable love, inspiration and genius.