Mia Michaels

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Mia Michaels

Occupation Choreographer

Mia Michaels is an American choreographer. She has worked with Madonna, Ricky Martin, Gloria Estefan, and Prince, and is best-known for contemporary dance choreography. She is a regular guest judge and choreographer on the program So You Think You Can Dance and in 2007 won an Emmy for her work on the show. She choreographed Celine Dion's Las Vegas show "A New Day...,"[1] as well as a Cirque du Soleil show, "Delirium," and several television commercials.

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[edit] Early life

Michaels was born in Coconut Grove, Florida, to a family of dancers.[2] Her father Joe Michaels taught her jazz, tap and ballet from the age of three. Her sister Dana Michaels taught Mia for several years in contemporary dance. She also trained at the Miami Conservatory. She began choreographing local shows at the age of 11 for her first company, The Miami Dance Company.[3] For years she attended summer sessions at Interlochen and Jacob's Pillow. [2]

[edit] Career

Michaels worked with her father at the Joe Michaels Miami Dance Center[2] and took over the center with her sister after her father retired in 1989.[4] She is the founder, artistic director and choreographer for the New York-based dance company RAW (Reality At Work) began in 1997.[5][2]

Michaels has been on the faculty of schools including the Harid Conservatory and her alma mater, the New World School of the Arts. Her choreography has been enlisted for Miami City Ballet, Joffrey II, the Kirov Academy and the Jazz Theater of Amsterdam.[2]

Michaels' work has included the Lady Luck Casino in Las Vegas, MTV's Hot Properties, Coldwell Banker,[2] Ziploc, the WNBA.

She has choreographed productions of West Side Story, Fort Chaffee (a work in the Spanish language), and the off-Broadway If These Shoes Could Talk.[2]

Michaels' biggest influence was dancer Margaret Dickie, now married to retired bass player of the 1970s band America David Dickie.

Since June 2006, Mia Michaels has written a column for movmnt magazine. In the summer of 1998, she was on the cover of Dance magazine.[6] In June 2007, she was featured in a cover story she wrote and modeled for in movmnt magazine entitled "In bed with Mia."[7]

In July 2007, Michaels was nominated and won an Emmy in Outstanding Choreography for the routine called 'Park Bench' set to Calling You sung by Celine Dion, danced by Heidi Groskreutz and Travis Wall on Season 2 of So You Think You Can Dance.[8]

[edit] Awards

  • Silver Leo Award, Jazz Dance World Congress, 1992[2]
  • Gold Leo Award, 1998, Best Choreography
  • Dance Educators of America's President Cup[2]
  • Outstanding Choreography, 59th Primetime Emmy Awards, 2007 [9]

[edit] Notes

 This section may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards.
Please improve this article if you can (August 2007).
  1. ^ Bill Keveney (07/20/2005), "It takes 50 to tango, etc., on Fox's 'Dance'". USA Today. (07347456)
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i McDonagh, Don; Caras, Steven (August 1998), "Blonde ambition". Dance Magazine. 72 (8):58
  3. ^ Coldwell Banker “Buying” - Mia Michaels / The American Choreography Awards
  4. ^ "A Towering Force", Gold Rush Magazine March 2007
  5. ^ http://fox61tv.com/first/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=173&Itemid=48
  6. ^ Coldwell Banker “Buying” - Mia Michaels / The American Choreography Awards
  7. ^ movmnt | Mia Michaels
  8. ^ Academy of Television Arts & Sciences
  9. ^ Academy of Television Arts & Sciences

[edit] References


v • d • e
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Choreography

Jim Moore / George Pinney / Jon Vanderkolff (2001) · Doug Jack / Sarah Kawahara / Kenny Ortega / Debra Brown (2002) · Sandra Bezic / A.C. Ciulla / Christopher Dean / Jamie Isley / Michael Seibert (2003) · Jason Samuels Smith (2004) · Christopher Dean (2005) · Charles Klapow / Kenny Ortega / Bonnie Story (2006) · Wade Robson / Mia Michaels / Rob Marshall / John Deluca (2007) ·
v • d • e
So You Think You Can Dance (U.S. TV series)
Seasons
1 · 2 · 3 · 4
Hosts
Judges
Choreographers
Alex Da Silva · Tyce Diorio · Brian Friedman · Jean-Marc Genereux · Dan Karaty  · Lil' C  · Tony Meredith · Mia Michaels · Mandy Moore · Toni Redpath · Wade Robson · Doriana Sánchez · Shane Sparks
Winners
Top 4 Contestants
Other
Other countries
Persondata
NAME Mia Michaels
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION An American choreographer
DATE OF BIRTH
PLACE OF BIRTH Coconut Grove, Florida, U.S.A.
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH