This is a series of lessons designed to help students identify and understand how traditional gender and sexual identity stereotypes dominate professional dance training and performance as well as how this rigid structure affects LGBTQIA+ dancers.
The Videos
YouTube
The Lesson Plans
Lesson 1: Gender Role Expectations in Dance
Lesson 2: Performing As Our True Selves
Lesson 3: Relationships in Dance
Lesson 4: A Vision For The Future
Additional Resources
About Michael Montoya
For the past ten years Michael has taught jazz and contemporary dance in the Hudson Valley New York area. Prior to moving to New York, Michael taught jazz dance for many years at studios in the Los Angeles area including the Debbie Reynolds Studios, Glendale Junior College and at the Defore Dance Center in Costa Mesa, where he also served as administrator for the professional dance scholarship program.
Michael has performed as a principal dancer, soloist and choreographer with the Jazz Spectrum Dance Company, Step 1 Jam, and Metro Dance Ensemble, and as a guest artist with the Capital City Ballet. He is also the former director of his own company, The Montoya Dance Ensemble, and has recently returned to working with the Jazz Spectrum Dance Company as a guest artist, choreographer and advisory board member.
Michael’s commercial dance credits include television commercials, music videos, and network and cable television special performances. His choreography has also been selected for performance at The Choreographer’s Showcase of Orange County, Jazz Dance Los Angeles and the Al Gilbert Showcase of Los Angeles.
As a transgender dancer having performed in both traditionally male and female roles, Michael has been able to develop a teaching style that, although rooted in classic Giordano and Luigi jazz technique, encourages exploration into masculine, feminine and nonbinary qualities of movement. His choreography honors and incorporates the individualism of his dancers, drawing upon the strengths of each performer, while challenging them to grow as artists.