Contemporary Circus, Light and the Choreographic, Leonora Carrington, Collaboration in Praxis

A Fellow of the HEA, Michelle lecturers in Dance and has been working at Edge Hill University since 2012. Her teaching practice has spanned over thirty years and across a range of professional, institutional and community contexts in Europe and the UK. She delivers research embedded teaching in Dance and Creative Arts with specialisms in: choreographic practice; improvisation and composition; dance analysis; collaborative performance making; embodied practices of flamenco, ballet, jazz and contemporary forms of dance; and mentoring of student projects.

On graduating from Elmhurst Ballet School in 1989, Michelle developed her professional career in Madrid, Spain, establishing her own company in 1996 'Michelle Man & Friends' collaborating extensively with composers, architects, lighting designers, musicians, costume makers, choirs, circus artists and multi-media artists. Her work has been received in Brazil, Chile, Korea, Italy, France, Germany, Canada, Sweden, Spain as well as the UK. She has been commissioned by the Spanish Government, CDN (Spanish National Theatre), Teatro Real, Teatro Circo Price, and has been awarded funding for research and artistic production. Michelle continues to choreograph internationally across a diverse range of contexts and disciplines that include contemporary dance, circus, theatre and music performance. She holds a Masters in Making Performance (awarded Distinction) and is currently a PhD Researcher in Dance at the University of Surrey, under the supervision of Dr Rachel Hann and Dr Adam Alston with the working title 'Light and the Choreographic'.