Michelle Manzanales, University of Utah MFA Candidate, is a choreographer, dance educator, and co-founder of the Latinx Dance Educators Alliance. Ms. Manzanales served for fifteen years as part of Ballet Hispánico of New York’s artistic leadership, first as the professional company’s Rehearsal Director & Artistic Associate for seven seasons, followed by eight years as the Director of The Ballet Hispánico School. 

 

Originally from Houston, TX, Manzanales is a proud Mexican American, Tejana, y Chicana. Her choreography commission for Ballet Hispánico (BH), Sor Juana, “is simply stunning in its translation of a life into a work of dance art” cheers Critical Dance writer Jerry Hochman. About the life of Mexican poet, scholar, and feminist, Juana Inés de la Cruz, Sor Juana premiered at New York City Center in 2023 and had the honor of being presented at the Cervantino Festival in Guanajuato, MX. Other recent choreography commissions include new works for the Paul Taylor Dance Company, Oregon Ballet Theater, Ballet de Jalisco (Guadalaja, MX), Cerqua Rivera Dance Theatre (Chicago, IL), Rutgers University, New World School of the Arts, Montclair State University, Kinder High School for the Performing & Visual Arts (Houston, TX), Baltimore School of the Arts, and Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing & Visual Arts.

 

Michelle’s, Con Brazos Abiertos, also created for BH, is described as a “savvy but deeply sincere meditation on her Mexican American background” (-Marina Harss, New York Times) and “an exceptional, heart-tugging beauty” (-Los Angeles Times). Con Brazos Abiertos premiered in 2017 and has since toured worldwide to critical acclaim including its feature at the BAAND Together Dance Festival at Lincoln Center and New York City Center’s 2018 Fall for Dance Festival. Other acclaimed works by Manzanales include her 2010 homage to Frida Kahlo, Paloma Querida, which was hailed a "visual masterpiece" by Lucia Mauro of the Chicago Tribune and was described by the Chicago Sun-Times as a “gorgeously designed, richly hallucinatory, multi-faceted vision of the artist.” 

 

Five of her works have been recognized by ACDA, of which two were presented at the Kennedy Center (Washington, DC), for their National Gala; Pour Me Out in 2006 and The Letting Go in 2008. Manzanales’ choreography has also been presented by Texas Contemporary Weekend (Houston, TX), Spring to Dance (St. Louis, MO), Festival de Danza Córdoba (Veracruz, Mexico), Capital Fringe Festival (Washington D.C), and Fort Worth Dance Festival (Fort Worth, TX).

 

Manzanales was named the 2024 Cecil H. and Ida Green Honors Chair for the School for Classical & Contemporary Dance at Texas Christian University. She was honored to be a speaker and presenting choreographer for the inaugural Limón, Latin Legacy Symposium held in NYC 2022. In addition, Manzanales served as a presenting panelist for Teacher’s College, Columbia University’s International Symposium, Teaching the Whole Child: Moving Beyond Mind Supremacy in October 2022. She has also presented at New York State Dance Education Association, ARTs + Change, National Dance Education Organization, and Decolonizing tertiary dance education: Time to act at Stockholm University of the Arts.

 

Manzanales has served as an adjudicator for ACDA’s Southeast, South-Central and Baja regions, and has been a guest teaching artist for ACDA’s Northeast Region. Additional adjudication panels include participation on the 92Y’s Future Dance Festival choreographer selection, Houston Arts Alliance grants program, the Nebraska Arts Council - Individual Artist Fellowships, Ballet Hispánico’s Instituto Coreográfico, and the Independent Study in Choreography for The Ailey School’s BFA program.

 

As a teacher, Ms. Manzanales is committed to utilizing progressive pedagogies, creating an environment where all students are inspired to explore movement, feel supported in their individual dance journeys, and draw meaningful connections between dance and their lives. Michelle has served on the faculties of the Ballet Hispánico School, University of Houston, Lou Conte Dance Studio (former Home of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago), and the Houston Metropolitan Dance Center. She has been a guest artist for the Professional Work Sessions at STEPS on Broadway, the Joyce Master Class Series at Gibney, the Taylor School, New Orleans Ballet Association, the Puerto Rico Classical Dance Competition, Rice University, Generation Dance Festival Houston, Regional Dance America, Festival de Danza Cordoba Youth Grand Prix-Mexico, Houston’s Kinder High School for the Performing & Visual Arts, along with numerous other dance studios, schools, and college dance programs (inter)nationally.