The Center Will Not Hold: With Michelle Dorrance and Ephrat “Bounce” Asherie

 Michelle Dorrance is “one of the most imaginative tap choreographers working today” (The New Yorker) and has pushed tap dance choreography into dialogue with the international cultural landscape like no artist before. At once a composer and a choreographer, she is known for deeply musical, highly physical, and emotionally compelling work that lives at the intersection of innovation, tradition, and risk.

Raised in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Dorrance was mentored by groundbreaking youth tap educator, Gene Medler and studied under many of the last hoofers of the jazz era. A New York City-based artist for over 25 years, she has performed with notable artists, companies, and multidisciplinary productions including Darwin Deez, Savion Glover’s ti dii, and Off-Broadway sensation, STOMP.

In 2011, she founded Dorrance Dance with the mission to help audiences view tap dance in a new and dynamically compelling context while honoring the Black American legacy of the art form. The company’s inaugural performance earned Dorrance a “Bessie” Award and the company has since performed over 20 of Dorrance’s original works nationally and internationally to great critical acclaim.

A lover of collaboration and rebellion, Dorrance has created work with a unique range of artists including Dormeshia, Derick K. Grant, Nicholas Van Young, Bill Irwin, Lil Buck, Tiler Peck, Jillian Meyers, Ephrat Asherie, and Toshi Reagon. Michelle made her Broadway choreographic debut in James Lapine’s Flying Over Sunset in 2021. Other commissions include Martha Graham Dance Company, The Joyce Theater, New York City Center, Vail Dance Festival, American Ballet Theatre, and Works & Process at the Guggenheim.

A 2018 Doris Duke Artist, 2017 Ford Foundation Art of Change Fellow, 2015 MacArthur Fellow, and 2012 Princess Grace Award winner, Dorrance has been acknowledged and supported by Jacob’s Pillow, the Alpert Awards, United States Artists, The Field, and the American Tap Dance Foundation. Dorrance holds a Bachelor of Arts from New York University and an honorary Doctorate of Arts from the University of North Carolina. She is a Capezio athlete and was recently named an Associate Artist at Sadler’s Wells.