Michèle Moss (BEd, MA in Interpretive Studies in Education)
Michèle Moss is a Calgary-based choreographer, dancer, and educator. Born in England and raised in Montreal, she has been choreographing in the jazz idiom since 1986. She has created over fifty works that have been performed in ??? countries/cities. She has conducted extensive dance research over the past two decades, primarily concentrating on jazz and its West African roots and Diaspora extensions. Her field research began in 1980 under the tutelage of Vicki Willis and has lead her to study and teach jazz on four continents. Research interests first took her to Africa in 1986-1987 and Cuba in 1999. Her Jamaican roots and love of social dance also inform her research and choreography. She continues to conduct research in such diverse locations as Dakar and Conakry, Durham and Kentucky as well as Poland, India, Japan. While her research focus is in the area of choreography, she also presents research at scholarly conferences.
Michèle co-founded Decidedly Jazz Danceworks (DJD) in 1984 with Vicki Willis and Hannah Stilwell. It is a concert jazz company based in Calgary, Alberta and is dedicated to the preservation of the rich history of jazz and the development and evolution of the form. She has served the company as a performer and Associate Artistic Director, dancing and choreographing for many seasons-most recently in the 20th and 25th anniversary concerts as well as from inception to 1997. She continues to teach in the school –both the recreational and professional training programs, as well as creating new work on the company as recently as 2008 and 2009. http://www.decidedlyjazz.com/company/our_style.html
Michèle joined the U of C dance faculty on a part-time basis in 1995 and is now a full-time Assistant Professor. In addition to teaching in the areas of jazz technique, dance pedagogy and world and social dance, Michèle has led numerous travel study courses to Africa and Cuba. She completed an M.A. in Interpretive Studies in Education in 2007, and she has been nominated for several Teaching Excellence Awards. Apart from DJD and the University of Calgary, Michèle has also held positions with numerous dance organizations in Calgary. She served as Artistic Director of Calgary’s Dancers’ Studio West – curator for the Alberta Dance Explosions (a Choreographers’ Festival) for five years. She has served as choreographer and teacher with many youth organization, including EKO (formerly Youth Dance Unlimited), Alberta Dance Theatre (formerly Children in Dance). She has collaborated with numerous artists and mentored many artists within the city of Calgary. She has served as adjudicator, peer assessor and specialist with many organizations including Canada Council and Heritage Canada.
She has performed in many cities from Chicago to Dakar and has created over fifty works that have been performed mostly in Calgary but also in Winnipeg, Halifax, Montreal and Toronto and as far away as Havana. Her research has taken her to many exotic locations seeking performance and study opportunities.
