Tap to the Beat with Michelle Dorrance

Dorrance Dance is an award-winning tap dance company based out of New York City. The company’s work aims to honor tap dance’s uniquely beautiful history in a new, dynamic and compelling context; not by stripping the form of its tradition, but by pushing it - rhythmically, technically and conceptually.

Recently mentioned in The New York Times’ Survey of Cultural Landscape, Michelle Dorrance encourages her dancers to create an intimate and captivating space that becomes an auditory playground with tap as the instruments.

MacArthur Genius grant winner Michelle Dorrance helps Stephen fulfill a life-long dream of learning a tap routine.

Michelle Dorrance, founder and artistic director of Dorrance Dance, is one of the most sought after tap dancers of her generation and “one of the most imaginative tap choreographers working today” (The New Yorker). A 2015 MacArthur Fellow, 2014 Alpert Award Winner and 2013 Jacob’s Pillow Dance Award Winner, Michelle performs, teaches and choreographs throughout the world.

Michelle Dorrance is a tap dancer and choreographer reinvigorating a uniquely American dance form in works that combine the musicality of tap with the choreographic intricacies of contemporary dance. The MacArthur Fellowship is a $625,000, no-strings-attached grant for individuals who have shown exceptional creativity in their work and the promise to do more.

Mentored by Gene Medler, Michelle grew up performing with the North Carolina Youth Tap Ensemble and has since performed with STOMP, Savion Glover’s ti dii, Manhattan Tap, Barbara Duffy & Co, JazzTap Ensemble, Rumba Tap, Ayodele Casel’s Diary of a Tap Dancer, Mable Lee’s Dancing Ladies, Harold Cromer’s original Opus One, Derick Grant’s Imagine Tap and Jason Samuels Smith’s Charlie’s Angels/Chasing the Bird. Michelle’s choreography has been featured on stages throughout the world as well as in a high-fashion short film for Tabitha Simmons.

Dorrance Dance - ETM: The Initial Approach (2014) Co-Choreographed by Michelle Dorrance and Nicholas Van Young (with solo improvisation by the dancers.) Original Instrument Design by Nicholas Young Performed by Ephrat "Bounce" Asherie, Elizabeth Burke, Warren Craft, Donovan Dorrance, Michelle Dorrance, Karida Griffith, Aaron Marcellus, Demi Remick, Greg Richardson, Leonardo Sandoval, Caleb Teicher and Nicholas Van Young.

Michelle embodies a true passion for teaching and strives to share this passion wherever she goes. She earned a Bachelor of Arts from NYU and played bass for Darwin Deez. She teaches on faculty at Broadway Dance Center, is a Capezio Athlete and has been featured on the covers of Dance Magazine and Dance Teacher Magazine. Michelle wishes to credit the master hoofers from whom she studied with in her youth for constant inspiration and influence.