A Native Californian, Michele started her dance career early by focusing on gymnastics for several years.  After several broken bones Michele became actively involved in playing musical instruments.  Michele, at age 13, played drums for her school band.  In her 1^st year of high school Michele decided to challenge all the boys who played trombone.  She played trombone in her High School Jazz Band participating in statewide competitions.  While playing in the Jazz Band, she learned to play the piano and guitar.  Michele became interested in Marching Band and made the auxiliary group of “Tall Flags” and became team captain for the next four years.

Michele studied choreography and attended special workshops and band camps.

In college Michele studied Jazz and Ballet. After moving to the Los Angeles area, she continued to study Ballet, with professional coaching in Ballroom and International Latin from Victor Veyrasset, David Hamilton and Donald Johnson.

Michele became the owner of Swingtime Dance Studio in 1992. While running Swingtime, Michele starting competing professionally in the UCWDC (United Country Western Dance Competition) Division 1 (top level of divisional competition) by winning multiple Grand Championships and then competed in the 1^st  UCWDC World Championships in the Masters Division, winning 4^th place overall.  Michele began dancing with Jim Farhadi.  They were undefeated in Division 1 until Worlds in 1996 where they tied for 1^st place then lost to a tie breaker, winning 2^nd overall.  The following year they competed in Masters for the 2^nd time until the partnership ended.

Michele has been teaching and judging since 1992 for Country and Swing dance competitions all across the continent and internationally and has been competing with her pro-am students.  She competed in the U.S.A. Swing Dance Championships several times including a few with the dance teams she choreographed.

Michele trained several years in Ballroom and Latin and received training in Swing and Country from professionals around the World.  Her expertise is in all Ballroom dances, Latin dances, Country Western couples and line dances. She is known for Swing and Hustle along with her fun hip hop classes and has taught these dance classes at many dance events.  She is a Master Instructor and has won many titles in choreography for big production teams.

Michele recently became the owner of Country Dance Sport. Country Dance Sport offers information about dancing, including Ballroom, Latin, Swing, and Hustle.  Country Dance Sport focuses on Country Dancing. Look for upcoming events with Country Dance Sport, including cruises, workshops, private dances and many other fun events.  Country Dance Sport offers a line of clothing that represents country dancing in the 2000’s, including competition wear as well as casual clothing and accessories.

Check out Michele's homepage for information about dance classes, upcoming cruises, other events, country dance apparel, accessories and information about what’s happening around the Southern California area and the entire nation.

See you on the dance floor!