SOC!ETY DANCE ACADEMY

Michele Byrd-McPhee is the executive director and founder of Ladies of Hip-Hop Festival (LofHHF). Also former directing cofounder of Montazh Performing Arts Company. Montazh Performing Arts Company was created in October of 1998, when fellow dancers Crystal Frazier and Michele came together to discuss their frustration with limited performance opportunities for female hip-hop dancers in the Philadelphia area. Montazh PAC was a Philadelphia based all female hip-hop dance company. Now based in New York, Montazh Performing Arts Company has now evolved into the “Ladies of Hip-Hop Festival Crew”. Despite these impressive accomplishments, Michele never formally studied dance, preferring instead to forge her own path. Michele, originally a Philadelphia native, moved to New Jersey at the age of four. It was in New Jersey that Michele began her “dance training,” consisting of careful attention to episodes of the 1980’s television series “Fame,” mixed with occasional classes here and there. Michele, has danced in music videos, battled in the club scene and traveled along as the Hip-Hop dance culture exploded onto stages, in studios and in theaters. Being one of the few women dancing along side groups of men, she became increasingly aware of the narrow opportunities for women in Hip-Hop. Michele created a safe space, a neutral zone where the art does not get lost or stifled because of complexities of male/female relationships. Spaces were it is ok to be women as you define it, not as defined by others. Her work celebrates womanhood… embraces being a mother, a wife, a sister, a friend, as well as an artist and how all those things intersect. Now living in the NYC area Michele most recently spent a semester teaching Intro Hip-Hop Dance at Connecticut College. Michele provides organization and artist consulting services; production management services and continues to be an advocate for the Hip-Hop dance community, especially for women.​

Member of Dance Fusion NYC