All About Michelle Dorrance

"I have had the honor of studying with and spending time with a great number of our tap maters before they passed away" says Michelle Dorrance at the 2012 Danspace Project. Dorrance has had the opportunity to train with tappers such as Clayton "Peg-Leg" Bates, Dr. James "Buster" Brown, Gregory Hines and the Nicholas Brothers.  In the 2012 Danspace Project, Dorrance's goal was to honor those tap masters, living and passed. A lot of the work that Michelle creates is inspired by those she has trained with. "I would also like to honor our living maters whom I am constantly influenced by" say Michelle. In Michelle's 2013 show SOUNDspace, she talks about how she is exploring new ideas but are also "constantly mindful of our rich history". Dorrance's inspiration to do slide work in socks came from Dr. Jimmy Slyde.  "In order to tap dance on the gorgeous wood floor you see here in the church, we had to turn away fr...

Michelle Dorrance was born on September 12th, 1979 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Dorrance was raised by her mother, M'Liss Gary Dorrance who was a former dancer with the Eliot Feld's American Ballet Company and the National Ballet of Wasington D.C and her father Anson Dorrance who is the current coach of the UNC Women's Soccer team. When Dorrance was 8, she joined what was known at the time The Children's Tap Company, now known as the North Carolina Youth Tap Ensemble. Through this company, Dorrance had the chance to meet many tap legends. Over the years she began to train with tappers such as Clayton "Peg Leg" Bates, Gregory Hines, Jimmy Slyde, Savion Glover, Brenda Bufalino and many more. Dorrance is now well known for her acknowledgement as a MacArthur fellow when she was awarding with the "Genius Grant" and for founding and artistic directing the Dorrance Dance. She is an American tap dancer, performer, choreographer, teacher and director...