Mia Michaels' Master Class

Broadway Dance Center held a master class with Mia Michaels last night, January 15, from 9-11 PM. The master class was posted both at the studio and online at bwydancecenter.com. The class was $35. When you arrive at the studio, you visit the information desk to get a wrist band for class admission.

Her classes are always held in studio 1, and as a rule it is usually good to show up at least an hour early if you want to get a good "spot." Any later than an hour and dancers are lined up down the hall to get into the studio. The benefit of taking her classes at Broadway Dance Center instead of at a convention such as The Pulse is that the class is very intimate - there are far few dancers than at a convention, and you can really tune into what Mia is looking for.

It was my second master class with Mia and, as usual, I had a great time. The studio was packed! Jamie and Sabra from So You Think You Can Dance came to take class. Ivan was also at the studio, but he didn't take Mia's class. Mia's assistants were amazing, as usual.

The combination she did was to the song "Because," by Dana Fuchs, from The Across the Universe motion picture soundtrack.

Mia brought up some really great concepts during the master class. During the warm-up, she had us move in two different ways: "Bony," which seemed to be like moving from your joints and very rapid and free, and "Muscle-y," which seemed to be like using resistance in your muscles. She also talked about how taking dance class is an opportunity to get inside of the person teaching or choreographing. Mia said that the class was an opportunity for us to explore her and to experiment with moving in new ways. Mia also talked about how dancing is about making smart choices with your body and the movements you make - she said that making smart choices is especially important with improv and matching your improv movement style to the tone of the piece.

In conclusion, Mia's class was an amazing and spiritual dance experience!

For more information about Mia Michaels, visit her web site at http://www.miamichaels.com/