|
|
Michelle L. Kaye
The fourth major milestone was when Swing Dancing came back into vogue, and Michelle found herself engrossed in Swing. Lindy-hop, and flying around doing aerial tricks. She became so engaged in the life of Swing Dancing, that she started teaching classes and at parties, as well as performing all over Colorado. One of the highlights of this chapter of her dance career includes performing with the popular swing band: "The Cherry Poppin' Daddies" (not the best band name in history, but sure fun to dance with!). The fifth milestone, which brings us up to the present day, started with taking classes from Carol Brunelli: a Soul Sweat, Planet Motion, and Zumba instructor. It was in one of Carol's classes that Michelle was invited to audition for the En Fuego Dance production: Evolution, in the summer of 2009. Through Paola Osma, the director of En Fuego Productions, Michelle found her Latin soul and her passion for various forms of Latin dancing through dancing the Reggeton, the Mambo, and Merengue. Through her participation in En Fuego: Evolutions, Michelle also learned from - and was inspired by - the many different forms of Latin Dance, and continues to be. Michelle - who is also an Equine Assisted Psychotherapist and Licensed Professional Counselor, as well as a professional actor - finds that dancing allows her to express herself in a truly authentic way. Training with Kendra of Planet Motion affords her the freedom to express her own unique style, her sense of humor, and her sense of adventure through the journey of becoming a Planet Motion instructor. Without the support of Kendra and Jillian- individually as well as collectively - Michelle would never have had the courage to follow through with achieving this dream. Michelle is especially grateful to her family for sharing their own love of music and dance; and especially to her sister, who continues to be one of her all-time favorite dance partners. To her friends, who have danced with her until 2:00 in the morning, who have thrown her in the air in time to the beat, and who have encouraged her to follow her dreams "no matter what" she is eternally grateful. And to her sweetheart, Raoul, who has loved her and held the space for her to emote from one end of the spectrum to the other - she could not realize her dreams without his support, friendship, and love. "All I can really say is WOW! This class is so incredible on so many levels. The first part... I think Kendra (the teacher) called it Meditation in Motion, really helped ground me in my body cause I was pretty nervous not ever having done this class before. And then Kendra launched in to this totally funky, fun, work your butt music and dance that was... not really that hard to follow. It took me a few times, but I got some of it. The energy of the class was infectious. I left feeling exhilarated, sweaty and busy trying to figure out when I could do this Planet Motion thing again." -- Kim, Lyons, CO |
Michelle L. Kaye has literally been dancing her whole life, and her dance career has had several major milestones over the years. The first milestone was when she was 8 years old. She discovered that, when given the opportunity to choose between gymnastics and dance class, that she needed to fully engage in dancing so that she could find her true soul in motion and in music. The second milestone was during her adolescence and early twenties when she realized that she needed to break free from any kind of formal training and simply dance for the sheer joy of it: in clubs, at parties, with friends, with family. The third milestone was in school at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts when her teacher and mentor - Ms. Theresa Hayes - gave her a choice: to either hold herself back with her own fears and self-limiting beliefs, or to step into the highest potential vision of herself and dance from her heart and soul.