Michael Richter
La Paz, Mexico
Michael Richter is the founding director of Mi Danza, providing performances and classes in schools and community settings (parks, city streets, etc.) in La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico. In 2014, Richter co-founded Eco Embrace Dance with Elaine Wang, an international choreographic collaborative to create dance videos in natural settings. In all his artistic work, Richter draws from postmodern dance, performance art, and sensory awareness.
After receiving his MA in Dance and teaching for the Los Angeles School District, Richter co-founded and co-directed Move, Dance, and Yoga (2003-09), which provided artist residencies, mentoring, curriculum, and professional development in dance integration to over 40 elementary schools in Los Angeles, CA. Richter also co-founded and co-directed two dance improvisation companies in Southern California: Conduit Dance Ensemble and Locomania Dance (1996-2002). He received support from the Dana and Harkness Foundations for Dance to co-develop a mentoring project for dance artist/educators with Celeste Miller and Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival. He also garnered grant support from the California Arts and Humanities Councils to create choreography with community dancers. Richter was a professor of Creative Dance in the Kinesiology department at California State University, Northridge.
He has acted on the Boards of the California Dance Educators Association and the Language of Dance Center, USA. He was also a researcher with the National Dance Education Organization. He is a certified Language of Dance® motif notation Specialist and Sensory Awareness instructor, who currently performs and teaches in a wide range of educational and community settings in North America.