COMPANY BIOS

Artistic Director | Assistant Director | Board of Directors | Dancers

Michelle Jones Wurtz Assistant Director and Dancer

Michelle Jones Wurtz holds a BFA in Modern Dance from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. She trained under Barbara Sandanato (former Principal of the National Ballet of Canada and Pennsylvania Ballet Company), Patricia Thomas of the Alvin Ailey and Graham Schools, Judith Jamison (currently the Artistic Director of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre) and Milton Myers (currently the head of the Contemporary Division at Jacob's Pillow). She performed professionally with Group Motion Dance Company while still attending college. After graduating Magna cum Laude, she continued her studies in the Vaganova Method (Russian Ballet Method) at the Pennsylvania Academy of Ballet under John White, former Ballet Master of the Pennsylvania Ballet Company, and has been specially trained to teach the method.

Michelle then joined the faculty and professional repertory company at the New Freedom Theatre in Philadelphia cited by the Kennedy Center for Excellence in the Arts; and also performed with Philadelphia based Footfalls Modern Dance Company and the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange based out of Washington D.C. Later, Ms. Wurtz joined ContempraDance Theatre and eventually became the Assistant Director.   When she was not performing, she was teaching throughout the Tri-State area and has given Master Classes at Swarthmore College, the University of the Arts, and at Temple University.

Currently Michelle is the Director of the Pottstown Dance Theatre as well as the Artistic Director of the Schuylkill Valley Regional Dance Company. Under her direction the Company has performed three full length concerts per year. She was the first American instructor invited to teach at the International Dance Festival in Ladek Zdroj, Poland and received an Honorary Degree in International Dance Studies. Last summer she toured the country of Poland with ContempraDANCE Theatre Comapny, and has been asked to work at numerous other international festivals throughout Europe. She has been featured in Dance Spirit Magazine, Dancer, Dance Teacher, and Philadelphia Magazine. Ms. Wurtz is a member of the National Dance Critics' Association, is a certified Pilates instructor, and was a panelist for the Program Stream category for the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts.