upcoming grant deadline: 05/15/2024
Michele is a hip-hop dancer first and foremost. She creates hip-hop dance for women. Michele's roles have evolved into director, organizer and activist, but ultimately it all comes back her art. As a dancer she began to miss a sense of sisterhood and female representation in the male dominated hip-hop culture. She responded by organizing a group of female "street dancers" and invited them to join her company of women dedicated to creating Hip-Hop dance works, called Montäzh. Michele is a pioneer for women in hip-hop and is reshaping the field. Montäzh events and full-length shows are known around the country. Michele created The Ladies of Hip-Hop Festival, a Philadelphia festival that focuses on women and their relationship to hip-hop culture. She is dedicated to giving women the tools and the support to change the economy and workplace of hip-hop dance culture, so that women can have powerful, influential, well-paid roles as directors, choreographers, and leaders in the field.