# Mia Michaels

Mia Michaels Melchiona (known professionally as Mia Michaels; born February 22, 1966) is an American choreographer and judge on the television show So You Think You Can Dance. She has worked with Tom Cruise, Celine Dion, Gloria Estefan, Madonna, Ricky Martin, Prince, and Catherine Zeta-Jones. In 2005 she choreographed Cirque du Soleil's world tour Delirium and Celine Dion's A New Day..., for which she received an Emmy Award nomination. In 2007 she won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Choreography for her routine on "Calling You" during season two of So You Think You Can Dance. She won another Emmy Award during season five in 2010. She was a judge during season 7 with Adam Shankman and Nigel Lythgoe. She choreographed the dance sequence for "Get Happy" in the episode "Bombshells" of the television series House.

## Early life

Mia Michaels was born in Coconut Grove, Florida on February 22, 1966, to a family of dancers. Her father, Joe Michaels, taught her jazz, tap, and ballet from the age of three at the Miami Dance Center. Her sister, Dana Michaels, taught her contemporary dance. Her brother Joe Melchiona owned and taught dance at Heidi & Joe's Dance Center in Miami Florida. While growing up, she attended summer sessions at Interlochen Center for the Arts in Michigan and at Jacob's Pillow in Becket, Massachusetts.

## Professional career

The choreography for Celine Dion's "A New Day" by Michaels, under the direction of Franco Dragone at Caesars' Palace in Las Vegas, received positive reviews. The show features a cast of 50 dancers. Michaels' work can be seen in the first touring show by Cirque du Soleil, Delirium, which premiered in March 2006. She has created works for Madonna, Ricky Martin, Gloria Estefan, Anna Vissi, and Prince.
Michaels is a judge and contributing choreographer for the FOX television show So You Think You Can Dance (abbreviated SYTYCD). She won an Emmy award for her choreography on the television series Calling You on SYTYCD. Her other works in film and television include Cool Women for AMC/DreamWorks Television and commercials for Mike's Hard Lemonade, Bacardi, Coldwell Banker, and Ziper. She also choreographed and played the character Olivia in the dance film Step Up Revolution.
The show's executive producer, Nigel Lythgoe, confirmed on October 15, 2009, Michaels' departure from the show. Lythgoe thanked Michaels for her assistance during the auditions phase of season 6, which was broadcast during the fall of 2009. He also made it known that Michaels was welcome to return to the show at any time during season 6 or in subsequent seasons. Michaels later revealed she left the show to participate as a choreographer for the Canadian and Australian versions of SYTYCD. In addition, Michaels shared she was moving forward on several other projects, including her own choreography show, participating in a documentary/reality show, working on a clothing line, and working on a book deal. Michaels did choreograph a routine for So You Think You Can Dance Canada's second season finale on October 25; the theme of the piece evoked her choice to depart the franchise. During rehearsal in Toronto, she injured her back and could not be present for the live performance.
Since June 2006, Michaels has been a columnist for Movmnt magazine.
In 2010, Bravo announced a television program focusing on Michaels.
Included in her concert and stage work is the dance company RAW (Reality at Work). She is the founder, artistic director, and choreographer since the beginning in 1997. She has created works for the Paper Mill Playhouse's production of Hello Dolly! starring Tovah Feldshuh, Les Ballet Jazz de Montreal, Jazz Dance Chicago, and Oslo Dance Ensemble. Her choreography has been seen off-Broadway in If These Shoes Could Talk and Fort Chaffee.
Michaels was one of many choreographers set to pay tribute to Michael Jackson at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards. Michaels was to join Wade Robson, Tyce Diorio, Laurie Ann Gibson, Brian Friedman, and other dancer-choreographers in performing with Janet Jackson for her rendition of the song "Scream", but sustained an injury during rehearsals and was unable to perform on the show.
Michaels has been on the faculty of schools including the Harid Conservatory, the Ailey School of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Broadway Dance Center in New York City, and her alma mater, the New World School of the Arts. Her choreography has been enlisted for the Miami City Ballet, Joffrey II, the Kirov Academy, and the Jazz Theater of Amsterdam. She occasionally joins the staff of the dance convention JUMP. In 2017, she worked with the Joffery Ballet School for a summer intensive program.
When So You Think You Can Dance returned for its ninth season, Michaels returned to the show and choreographed the Top 20 group performance.
In 2012, Michaels choreographed for the film Rock of Ages. In 2015, she provided the choreography for the Broadway musical Finding Neverland. In 2016, she choreographed the New York Christmas Spectacular starring the Rockettes. In 2019, it was announced that Michaels would provide choreography for the 2020 animated film The SpongeBob Movie: It's a Wonderful Sponge.

### So You Think You Can Dance

| Season | Week | Dancers | Dance style | Music | Notes |
| 1 | 2 | Destini Rogers Blake McGrath | Lyrical Jazz | "A Song for You" – Donny Hathaway | |
| 1 | 2 | Ashlé Dawson Artem Chigvintsev | Lyrical Jazz | "A Song for You" – Donny Hathaway | |
| 1 | 5 | Kamilah Barrett Nick Lazzarini | Contemporary | "King of Pain" – The Police | |
| 1 | 7 | Ashlé Dawson Melody Lacayanga | Contemporary | "Message in a Bottle" – The Police | |
| 2 | LVW* | All Dancers | Contemporary | N/A | |
| 2 | 6 | Travis Wall Heidi Groskreutz | Contemporary | "Calling You" – Celine Dion | Emmy Award for Outstanding Choreography 2007 Heidi Groskreutz's favorite routine of the season |
| 2 | 6 | Allison Holker Ryan Rankine | Contemporary | "Ethna" – Klement Bonelli | |
| 2 | 8 | Top 6 | Contemporary | "Hide and Seek" from Imogen Heap | Result Show |
| 2 | 9 | Donyelle Jones Travis Wall | Contemporary | "Georgia on My Mind" – Ray Charles | |
| 3 | LVW | All Dancers | Contemporary | "I Miss You" – Vitamin String Quartet | |
| 3 | 1 | Lacey Schwimmer Kameron Bink | Contemporary | "Dancing" – Elisa | |
| 3 | 3 | Shauna Noland Cedric Gardner | Contemporary | "I Thought We Had" – The Family Stand | |
| 3 | 5 | Lauren Gottlieb Neil Haskell | Contemporary | "Let the Drummer Kick" – Citizen Cope | |
| 3 | 6 | Top 10 | Contemporary | "The Moment I Said It" – Imogen Heap | Result Show |
| 3 | 7 | Lacey Schwimmer Neil Haskell | Contemporary | "Time" – Billy Porter | Dan Karaty's favorite routine of the season |
| 3 | 8 | Lauren Gottlieb Danny Tidwell | Contemporary | "Then You Look at Me" – Celine Dion | |
| 3 | 9 | Neil Haskell Danny Tidwell | Contemporary | "Are You the One?" – The Presets | |
| 4 | LVW | All Dancers | Contemporary | Mic Check – Imogen Heap | |
| 4 | 1 | Chelsie Hightower Mark Kanemura | Contemporary | "Beautiful" – Meshell Ndegeocello | |
| 4 | 3 | Top 16 | Contemporary | "The Dance" – Charlotte Martin | Result Show |
| 4 | 4 | Kherington Payne Stephen "tWitch" Boss | Contemporary | "Dreaming with a Broken Heart" – John Mayer | |
| 4 | 4 | Katee Shean Joshua Allen | Contemporary | "Hometown Glory" – Adele | |
| 4 | 6 | Top 5 female dancers | Contemporary | "Ave Maria" – Celine Dion | Result Show |
| 4 | 7 | Katee Shean Stephen "tWitch" Boss | Contemporary | "Mercy" – Duffy | Nominated for the 2009 Emmy Award for Outstanding Choreography Mary Murphy's favorite routine of the season |
| 4 | 9 | Top 4 | Contemporary | "Hallelujah" – The Vitamin String Quartet | |
| 5 | LVW | All Dancers | Contemporary | "Belief (Stripped Version)" – Gavin DeGraw | |
| 5 | 2 | Top 18 | Contemporary | "Higher Ground" – Stevie Wonder | Result Show |
| 5 | 3 | Randi Evans Evan Kasprzak | Contemporary | "Koop Island Blues" – Koop featuring Ane Brun | Won the 2010 Emmy Award for Outstanding Choreography One of Adam Shankman's favorite routines of the season |
| 5 | 5 | Kayla Radomski Kūpono Aweau | Contemporary | "Gravity" – Sara Bareilles | Won the 2010 Emmy Award for Outstanding Choreography One of Nigel Lythgoe's favorite routines of the season |
| 5 | 7 | Top 8 | Contemporary | "One" from A Chorus Line | Won the 2010 Emmy Award for Outstanding Choreography Result Show |
| 5 | 9 | Jeanine Mason Kayla Radomski | Contemporary | Contemporary | "The Four Sections: IV (Full Orchestra)" – Steve Reich |
| 7 | 1 | Billy Bell Ade Obayomi Alex Wong | Contemporary | "This Bitter Earth/On the Nature of Daylight" – Max Richter and Dinah Washington | |
| 7 | 4 | Top 8 | Contemporary | "When We Dance" – Sting | |
| 7 | 7 | Top 6 All-Stars | Contemporary | "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" – Sting | |
| 9 | 1 | Top 20 | Contemporary | "Eyes" (Coachella Live 2012 version) – Kaskade | |
| 9 | 4 | Top 14 | Contemporary | "Hanging On" – Active Child | All couples perform routines choreographed by Mia Michaels form previous seasons. |
| 9 | 4 | Eliana Girard Cyrus "Glitch" Spencer | Contemporary | Mercy – Duffy | From Season 4 |
| 9 | 4 | Tiffany Maher George Lawrence Jr. | Contemporary | Hometown Glory – Adele | From Season 4 |
| 9 | 4 | Amelia Lowe Will Thomas | Contemporary | "Koop Island Blues" – Koop feat. Ane Brun | From Season 5 |
| 9 | 4 | Janelle Issis Dareian Kujawa | Contemporary | Dreaming with a Broken Heart – John Mayer | From Season 4 |
| 9 | 4 | Audrey Case Matthew Kazmierczak | Contemporary | "Time" – Billy Porter | From Season 3 |
| 9 | 4 | Witney Carson Chehon Wespi-Tschopp | Contemporary | Calling You – Celine Dion | From Season 2 |
| 9 | 4 | Lindsay Arnold Cole Horibe | Contemporary | "Gravity" – Sara Bareilles | From season 5 |
| 9 | 7 | Eliana Girard Cole Horibe | Contemporary | "Adagio for Strings" – Brno Philharmonic Orchestra | |
| 10 | MT20* | Hayley Erbert Carlos Garland Malece Miller | Contemporary | "Stay – Rihanna feat. Mikky Ekko | |
| 10 | 8 | Top 8 | Contemporary | "Move to the Ocean" (Baauer remix) – Brick & Mortar | |
| 14 | 7 | Lex Ishimoto Taylor Sieve | Contemporary | "You Matter To Me" by Sara Bareilles ft. Jason Mraz | |
| 15 | 4 | Top 6 | Contemporary | "Spring 1" – Max Richter | |
* LVW=Las Vegas Week
* MT20=Meet Top 20

### So You Think You Can Dance Canada

| Season | Week | Dancers | Dance style | Music |
| 2 | 8 | Top 3 Girls | Contemporary | "Concerto for 2 Violins in D Minor, BMV 1043: II. Largo ma non Tanto J. S. Bach" – The Scottish Ensemble/Jonathan Rees |
| 2 | 9 | Top 10 | Contemporary | "This Moment" – Nic Chagall ft. Jonathan Mendelsohn |
| 3 | 3 | Top 18 | Jazz | "Let Go" – Mitzi Gaynor |
| 3 | 6 | Top 12 | Contemporary | "Will I?" from Rent |
| 4 | 9 | Top 3 Girls | Contemporary | "What About Us" – ATB |

## Awards and honors

| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result |
| 1992 | Jazz Dance World Congress | Silver Leo Award | Silver Leo Award | Won |
| Dance Educators of America | Dance Educators of America | President Cup | President Cup | Won |
| 2002 | American Choreography Awards | Outstanding Achievement in Commercials | Coldwell Banker "Buying" | Nominated |
| 2003 | American Choreography Awards | Outstanding Achievement in Television - Variety Series | Celine in Las Vegas: Opening Night Live | Nominated |
| 2003 | Primetime Emmy Award | Outstanding Choreography | Celine in Las Vegas: Opening Night Live | Nominated |
| 2007 | Primetime Emmy Award | Outstanding Choreography | So You Think You Can Dance ( For episode Calling You) | Won |
| 2009 | Primetime Emmy Award | Outstanding Choreography | So You Think You Can Dance (For "Mercy") | Nominated |
| 2010 | Primetime Emmy Award | Outstanding Choreography | So You Think You Can Dance (For the routines "Koop Island Blues," "Gravity," and "One") | Won |
| 2011 | Primetime Emmy Award | Outstanding Choreography | So You Think You Can Dance (For the routines "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic," "When We Dance," "This Bitter Earth/On the Nature of Daylight" (tied with Tabitha and Napoleon D'umo) | Won |
| 2015 | Astaire Awards | Best Choreographer | Finding Neverland | Nominated |