Hometown: Spokane, WA
Current city: Portland, OR
Age: 55
College and degree: Western Washington University (Special Education, minor in Psychology)
Graduate School and degree: 1st time at age 25 - University of Oregon in Special Education; 2nd time at age 51 in Counseling Psychology at Pacifica Graduate Institute
Website: www.tentinydances.org
How you pay the bills: Full time public high school special education teacher
All of the dance hats you wear: dancer, choreographer, producer, curator
Non-dance work you do: Teacher and psychotherapist
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Mike was asked to write about dancing in his 20s, 30s, 40s, and 50s as well as a career in both special education and dance. He is also the creator of the Ten Tiny Dances project.
My dance life spans 5 decades. I did community theater during my teens in Spokane, Washington, and was struck by how much I loved dancing in musicals. It was the dance that excited me, which is a good thing since my singing voice is only passable. I took my first dance class as a freshman in college…and never stopped.
I began taking jazz and in my early twenties studied modern jazz with Nancy Cranbourne at the Bill Evans Studio in Seattle. Performance opportunities though were in contemporary modern. I still like the structure and character of theater and jazz, but contemporary modern has been my dance mainstay ever since my twenties in Seattle.
I quit teaching for two years in my early thirties to dance full time. Other than that I have done both, both careers that I’ve loved, good adventures in both, for a long time. They’ve been parallel rather than overlapped. Dance for me has been about performing and creating, rather than teaching. During the two years that I left teaching, I was fortunate to work with Pat Graney in Seattle, then was cast in a show by Bill Irwin at the Seattle Rep which then went to the Kennedy Center and then to Broadway. New York, and dancing on Broadway, was the realization of a long time dream. I moved to Portland in my mid thirties and began dancing with Gregg Bielemeier a year or so after arriving. I loved the humor and wit in his classes and choreography. I’ve been blessed to work with some very talented, diverse artists and teachers.
In my forties, I found aerial dance and co-directed Portland’s Aero Betty Aerial Dance Theater for four years. By the end of that time, I had become more interested in how to fall off the trapeze in interesting ways rather than flying…..so back to earth. I began Ten Tiny Dances in 2002 and have loved its journey ever since. I recently produced the 29th occurrence of the series at PICA's TBA Festival here in Portland. Over 400 people jammed the venue to watch national dance luminaries as well as local artists take on the challenge of creating for the 4x4 space. It’s been a lovely, surprising ride, witnessing the growth of what started as a very simple fundraiser idea. I’ve loved and have felt very proud of the diversity of dance/performance artists that the Ten Tiny stage has held over the ten years I have been producing it. It has garnered, as well, a diverse audience who respond to its accessible format.
And that takes me to my 50s. I’m 55 now, still making my own work, which I began about 15 years ago, and dancing for others when I can. My interest lately has focused on scored and improvised work. I had the beautiful opportunity of attending Deborah Hay’s Solo Performance Commissioning Project in Scotland 5 years ago and her work and ideas still inform my dance practice. I took TTD to Orange County last year and would love to see it travel more. I look forward to what’s ahead.
Non-dance movement practices:
I run every day, at least 20 minutes. The daily practice of shorter runs works better for my body. My goal is to run 365 days, every day. I just passed day 75.
Books, websites, blogs, and shows that serve as inspiration:
Lately, Deborah Hay and Keith Hennessy. Both are artists who dance to the beat of their own drummers. And that’s my advice to young dancers. Find your Daemon, the part of you that feels totally true to you, and follow that. Stay true!
To read Mike's updated profile from 2017, please click here.
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