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When you think of dance in LA, you think commercial. But there is actually a pretty large community of contemporary dance companies in LA doing amazing things. Today’s episode is a Career Spotlight episode and we are highlighting contemporary dance company experiences in Los Angeles. My guests, Michaela Moore and Nicole Hagen, both have a plethora of experience not only as dancers in LA, but also serving in different roles like rehearsal director, community liaisons and marketing. We chat about:
- the lengthy process of auditioning
- figuring out the mutual relationship between company and company member
- the best advice for those looking to be a part of a dance company community
Michaela Moore @__mickmouz was born and raised in Colorado Springs, CO. Her dance education has come from Robin’s Danceworks, The Ann Lacy School of American Dance and Arts Management program at OCU, and the BFA dance program at the University of Colorado-Boulder. In 2017 she joined AGT’s “The Silhouette’s” for a 4 month International tour, dancing across Germany and performing in 75+ shows.
Michaela is a member and rehearsal director for GEOMETRY dance company, under the direction of Mackenzie Martin, with whom she has performed at MASHUP’s International Women’s Day Dance Festival, Fiestalonia Sea Sun Festival, Capezio’s A.C.E. Awards, Donovan Wood’s music video “She Waits For Me To Come Back Down” & Duomo’s music video “What About Us”, in collaboration with Netflix’s Bridgerton.
Aside from performing, her love for teaching and choreographing is expansive and she has choreographed/produced award winning pieces for the past 12 years. You can find her teaching at GENESIS STUDIOS every Tues. Michaela truly believes in the art of dance as a way to globally communicate through movement.
Nicole Hagen @nicole_hagen is a LA-based dancer, educator, and choreographer, who has performed works by Elías Aguirre, Gianna Burright, Genevieve Carson, Roderick George, Tess Hewlett, Madison Hicks, Iker Karrera, Kate Hutter Mason, Waeli Wang, and WHYTEBERG. Nicole was a company member with L.A. Contemporary Dance Company and MashUp Contemporary Dance Company, which provided her the opportunity to perform at iconic venues including LA Dance Project, The Odyssey Theatre, ODC Theater, The Architecture & Design Museum, and Highways Performance Space. Commercially, Nicole's credits include Paramore, NBC’s This Is Us, Banks, and Netflix’s Dear White People.
Choreographically, Nicole’s work has been seen on a multitude of stages throughout SoCal such as AMDA’s Cosmo Theater, LA Dance Project, LA Theater Center, IAF, Bootleg Theater, Sophia B. Clarke Theater at Mt. San Antonio College, McCallum Theatre, Musco Center for the Arts and Waltmar Theater at Chapman University, and ACDA's Screen Dance Festival. She has been a two-time finalist at the McCallum Choreography festival.
Nicole is on faculty at Loyola Marymount University (LMU) and AMDA College. She holds a BFA in Dance Performance, with a minor in Business Administration from Chapman University
Hey y'all! I'm Justine, the voice behind the DC:U pod and MNTR MGMT. After 15+ years in the industry as a choreographer, dancer, producer, educator and more, I'm now working closely with dance artists on professional development, business skills and digital enhancement. Curious? Book a free 1:1 Career Call. You can also help support the podcast! Subscribe and receive exclusive member benefits --> Pod Producer/Supporter
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