Michael Mead (born 4 June 1956) is a professional ballroom dance champion and choreographer.

Biography

Michael Mead, born in

Croydon Croydon is a large town in South London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a Districts of England, local government district of Greater London; it is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater Lond ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, spent his early years traveling with his family and attending schools overseas. At 18, done with school and unsure of what he wished to do professionally, Michael decided to try his hand at accounting. After quickly establishing that perhaps the last thing he wished was to spend the rest of his life auditing, Michael enrolled in a teacher training class at a local dance studio, and was offered a job after only six months of dance training. The lust for travel instilled in Michael in his early years soon took hold, ultimately leading him to California, where he opened Londance, now one of the top competitive dance studios in the U.S., in Costa Mesa, California. Though Michael sold his ownership share in 1989 in order to concentrate on the serious pursuit of a competitive dance career, he continues to teach there (and at Champion Ballroom Academy in San Diego) to this day.

Dance career

Michael formed a professional partnership with Toni Redpath and developed a unique style that ultimately led them to setting a record by winning the Open Championships 4 years in a row (undefeated throughout) before retiring from competition in 2002. On September 28, 2000, Toni and Michael were married on the island of

Kauai Kauai (), anglicized as Kauai ( or ), is one of the main Hawaiian Islands. It has an area of 562.3 square miles (1,456.4 km2), making it the fourth-largest of the islands and the 21st-largest island in the United States. Kauai lies 73 m ...

. Currently the couple are based in

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

and coach many of the U.S. top competitive couples, as well as judging for competitions and traveling the world doing shows.

TV and Film

Michael and Toni have made numerous appearances on TV and film. Most notable TV credits are as choreographers on

FOX Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...

So You Think You Can Dance ''So You Think You Can Dance'' is a franchise of reality television shows in which contestants compete in dance. The first series of the franchise, created by '' Idols'' producers Simon Fuller and Nigel Lythgoe, premiered in July 2005 and has ...

'', featured dancers and champions on

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

'' America's Ballroom Challenge'' and ''Championship Ballroom Dancing'', and in the feature film '' Dance with Me''.

Choreography for So You Think You Can Dance

Achievements

* Four Time Undefeated U.S. Ballroom Champions: 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 * World DanceSport Classic Showdance Champions FinalistsInstructors :: Michael Mead & Toni Redpath :: DanceVision.com
/ref> * National Professional Rising Star Champions: 1998 * Canadian Open American Ballroom Champions: 2000, 2001 * National Showdance Championships Runners Up: 2001

References

External links

*
DanceSport Competitions

Champion Ballroom Academy

So You Think You Can Dance (Fox)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mead, Michael British ballroom dancers English male dancers Living people People from Croydon So You Think You Can Dance choreographers 1956 births no:Toni Redpath og Michael Mead