Mia Michaels: blonde ambition; fast-rising jazz-dance star Mia Michaels gets a chance to shine at the choreographers competition of the Jazz Dance World Congress in Phoenix

Dance Magazine, August, 1998 by Don McDonagh

She's tall, blonde (when not closely cropped), and talented. Last year, on tour in Korea, she decided to form her own company, Mia Michaels R.A.W. The initials stand for Reality At Work and reflect the intensity that she brings to her choreography and performing, an intensity she wishes to share with her audience at a truly visceral level: "I want audiences to feel it internally. It touches not only the eye but the soul." Born into a dance-oriented family in Coconut Grove, Florida, she first studied jazz dance, tap, and ballet with her father, Joe, her partner in and a co-manager of the Joe Michaels Miami Dance Center. Michaels continued her ballet training at the Miami Conservatory and modern dance at what is now the New World School of the Arts. For several years she attended summer sessions at Interlochen and Jacob's Pillow.

At the precocious age of eleven, she started arranging dances with her first dance group, The Miami Dance Company. Teaching came a little bit later and continues to occupy a major part of her professional life. The jazz studios in New York City drew her in to polish technique and she emerged to teach master classes at the Broadway Dance Center as well as at The Edge in Los Angeles. She has also been on the faculty of the Harid Conservatory and of her own alma mater, the New World School of the Arts.

The music Michaels selects ranges from the mainstream middle of Frank Sinatra to the youthful edge of Jon Secada and the decidedly far from center sound of a plaintive, down-home voice accompanied by a lonely, folksy guitar. Her selection is dictated by need, not philosophical orientation, as is her movement vocabulary. She uses any dance or nondance technique that suits the creative needs of the moment. Her artistic signature is high-energy diversity.

She works hard and so do her dancers, who feel the satisfaction that comes from a dance like Within that calls for changes in dynamics that range from an underwater walking pace to lickety-split, rapid-fire hand gestures. This group work, for three men and four women, also requires ear-high extensions, balletic leg beats, and the ability to do everything upside down, if need be. As one of the dancers commented, "The choreography allows you to let go." The working style is unisex, which means that everyone must be prepared to do everything. If the choreographer wants lifts, the women have to lift men when their turn comes.

In addition to creative work for her own company, Michaels has done pieces for Miami City Ballet, Joffrey II, the Kirov Academy in Washington, D.C., and the Jazz Theater of Amsterdam. Her television work includes a series of commercials for Lady Luck Casino in Las Vegas, and MTV's Hot Properties. She has choreographed productions of West Side Story, Fort Chaffee (a Spanish language production), and the off-Broadway If These Shoes Could Talk. In short, she has touched all the bases except for movie musicals, and that omission is simply because none are made nowadays. The first year that the Jazz Dance World Congress [see page 52] initiated the Leo Awards, in 1992, Michaels was honored with a Silver Leo. The Dance Educators of America has awarded her with the President's Cup for outstanding choreography.

To expand the boundaries of jazz dance, Michaels draws inspiration from a variety of sources. One of the more unexpected results of this very contemporary sensibility is her Malted Milk. Its music is a blues vocal, accompanied by guitar, that is as rich and slow as Mississippi mud. To it she has affixed an intense dance so precise it could have been set by a rhythmically gifted computer. The emotional temperature of the work is typical of all her pieces. Even when she does not call on her dancers to cover acres of space in a surprisingly short time, she infuses their moments with passion. A slow walk can become the most momentous event in an otherwise fast-moving dance.

As a participant in the choreographic competition at this year's Jazz Dance World Congress in Phoenix, she, like all entrants, must create a dance for at least six dancers that cannot last over seven minutes. There are no sets, and participants can choose any style of jazz that suits them. There's no telling what Mia Michaels will select from the wide variety of jazz-dance movement styles she has worked in. However, it is safe to say that it will be passionate.