Spotlight: Part I - Michelle Dorrance

I connected a bit late, and after unnecessary apologies we spent the next hour chatting about her, her art, the place in history and where she is going.

Born to a former dancer of the Elliot Feld’s company and the National Ballet of Washington and most successful women’s soccer coach at North Carolina that took the National Team to the World Cup in China and won first place, she obviously fell in love with both things: dance and soccer. She discovered another form of dance: tap dancing.

With the encouragement of her teacher, Gene Medler, Michelle’s curiosity for this American art form was born and she became set on discovering the century old traditions that made tap such a musical and jazzy art form. She was fascinated by the legends of that Jazz Dance area and marveled at their artistry. Soon she became immersed in what they were doing and was traveling to learn more and more.

Living in North Carolina she was surprised that even at the American Dance Festival, a cradle of dance, little or no exposure was given to that art form. She recalls one single concert where two artists were invited but appeared in the same program with Jose Greco, a well-known exponent of Spanish dance of that time. So she set her sights in changing audiences perception to tap.

— Michael Uthoff, Artistic Director, Dance St. Louis