Our Team

Kevin Self

Owner, Instructor

A former professional dancer, Mr. Self studied dance while growing up in Las Cruces, as a Harkness receipient in Dallas, in summer programs in Italy, and throughout high school and college at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts.   He danced with Agnes deMille's Heritage Dance Company, North Carolina Dance Theatre and American Ballet Theatre, performing at New York's Metropolitan Opera House.  Upon retiring from his distinguished dance career, Mr. Self returned to Las Cruces, where he attained an additional degree from NMSU and a new career as a real estate broker and appraiser. 

Mr. Self continues his late wife's (Michele Self) legacy as Owner and Director of Michele's Dance Academy.  His contributions to the world of dance include teaching, choreographing, performing in Las Cruces Chamber Ballet productions.   He was a recipient of the 2001 Dona Ana Art Council's Community Arts Award and he was also a choreographer for the world premiere opera "Sara McKinnon", with music by Randall Shinn and libretto by Mark Medoff.    Mr. Self was also a featured teacher in the Spotlight Section of "Dance Studio Life" in December, 2010.            

 

Laura Self

Manager, Instructor

Laura grew up dancing, studying under Katherine Clark in El Paso, Texas and also performed for the USO as a member of the El Paso Dance Company.   She graduated from California State University, San Bernardino with two degrees, one in Theatre Arts with an Acting Emphasis, and the other in Computer Science.   She danced througout college with the Riverside Ballet Theatre as a member of the corps de ballet.    She has performed with the Las Cruces Chamber Ballet in many "Nutcracker" productions, and also in "Ghost Stories of the Southwest" as La Llarona.   She also continuously attends dance seminars and workshops to perfect her craft, and is proud to have brought her musical theatre background to Michele's Dance Academy, both in classes and with the Academy's performing musical theatre group "Showstoppers".   Laura currently holds licensing as a Personal Trainer, Pilates and Barre Instructor.

                                      

Charlene Manning

Charlene Manning

Instructor

"Miss Charlie Ann" has been an instructor at Michele's Dance Academy for over 30 years.   She continuously attends dance teacher summits and seminars to perfect her craft and is a gifted teacher, choreographer and ballet mistress for the Las Cruces Chamber Ballet.   She has performed in numerous productions, including:   Coppelia, Swan Lake, Rodeo, Dance Kaleidoscope, Sleeping Beauty, Spotlight on Dance, Still Kickin' in addition to many Nutcracker performances.

 

Marissa Cordero

Instructor, Artistic Director of "Pasos del Alma"

Marissa began dancing at the age of 5 years old under the instruction of Maestro Jose Tena’s Ballet Folkorico Tierra del Encanto’s first children’s dance troupe. As she progressed,  Marissa joined the adult performing group with Ballet Folklorico Tierra del Encanto until she became Jose Tena’s assistant director of the children’s dance troupe in 2005-2009. She has performed on many stages throughout our beautiful state of New Mexico as well as California and the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington DC.  

She also had the opportunity to be the instructor of Ballet Folklorico for the MacArthur Elementary after school program from 2008-2009. She has attended conferences to expand her knowledge and understanding of the history and rich culture of Ballet Folklorico. Those conferences include the following: Las Cruces International Mariachi Conference, (student 1994-2001) (assisted instructors 2002-2007) and ANGF- Asociación Nacional de Grupos Folkloricos in Las Cruces, New Mexico 2007 and Nayarit, Mexico 2008.

 

Kai Garcia

Instructor 

Kai Garcia is currently a NMSU Student working on his bachelor's degree in Fashion Design.   He has been dancing since 2011 in Hip Hop, Ballet, Jazz, Tap, Contemporary and Ballroom.

He has competed at events such as Streetz, NUVO, Starpower, Showbiz for Ann Marie's Dance Academy in Farmington, NM as well as for Sandra's School of Dance in Albuquerque, NM.

Applehelen Kirby

Instructor, Artistic Director of "Chrysalis"

Applehelen Kirby is a native of Las Cruces, NM and began her training with Michele's Dance Academy and the

Las Cruces Chamber Ballet. She was a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Scholar at New Mexico State University receiving B.S. and M.S. degrees in Microbiology and Biology. While at NMSU, she was a company member in both Contemporary Dance Theatre under the tutelage of Dr. Debra Knapp and Sol y Arena Flamenco Company studying with Paco Antonio and Lucilene de Geus. She has travelled throughout the US and internationally, training and performing works by various artists from the American College Dance Association, Ballet Nacional de España, Seminario de Flamenco y Danza, Bill Evans Teaching Institute, Social Movement Creative Dance,

Bahtsheva Dance Company, JSR Company, and StaibDance. Applehelen also received an M.A. degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from NMSU and currently works as a licensed therapist, adjunct professor teaching and choreographing for the NMSU Dance Program, certified yoga instructor, and performs and choreographs for Lifted Dance

Collective, as well as serves on the boards of the LCCB and Desert Community Wellness.

Victoria Rel

Instructor

Victoria is a Las Cruces ballet and dance veteran. She started her early dance years in Scottsdale, Arizona before moving to Las Cruces and joining Michele's Dance Academy in the early 2000's.  Victoria was an integral part of Michele's; as an instructor and member of the Las Cruces Chamber Ballet from 2013 - 2017.  During this time, she performed in a variety of productions including starring roles in "The Nutcracker", "Swan Lake" and "Sleeping Beauty". As part of her development, Victoria attended prestigious intensives at Juliana's School of Ballet and the Fauborg School of Ballet in Chicago, IL.
 
Beyond ballet, Victoria was a proud member of the New Mexico State University Sundancers including two years as captain.  She later became head coach of The Sun Dancers. During her NMSU tenure and since, Victoria has continued her involvement in the local regional dance scene participating in Pro Action Dance in Las Vegas, NV alongside professional choreographer Oscar Hernandez as well as judging district and state dance competitions.

Danielle Estrada

Instructor

Danielle Estrada is a Roswell, NM native and has been dancing since the age of 5. She started at Fusion Pointe Dance Studio where she was introduced to different dance styles other than hip hop such as ballet and jazz. After the closing of Fusion Pointe Dance Studio, Danielle attended Miss Minnie's School of Ballet where she practiced ballet (in soft and pointe shoes) and jazz until she was 14 years old. Danielle Estrada then became a proud member of her high school dance team, the Roswell High School Charlies Angels Dance team, where their main focus was pom, jazz and technique. With her high school team, she was able to secure three state championships at the NMAA State Spirit Championship as well as two National Championships in Orlando, FL at the NDA High School Nationals Competition in large varsity pom. Danielle Estrada is now a proud alumni of New Mexico State University where she was a member of the New Mexico State Sundancers throughout her college career. Danielle was named as captain of the Sundancers from 2021-2023. Throughout her collegiate dance career she was chosen to attend ProAction Dance Convention twice where she assisted Oscar “Big O” Hernandez in demos and assisted in teaching his routines to a plethora of the top college dance teams, NBA, NFL and NHL teams.Since her time at NMSU, Danielle has continued to stay involved in the dance community through teaching hip hop dance classes at La Vida Project as well as still assisting Oscar Hernandez for her third and fourth year at the ProAction Dance Convention.
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© Michele's Dance Academy 1195 E. Madrid Ave., Las Cruces, NM 88001 575-527-1893 michelesdanceacademy@gmail.com

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