We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Melissa Schade a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Melissa, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.
My favorite and most meaningful project would have to be my annual birthday party and variety show. For the last 9 years I have thrown myself a birthday bash. But it is not just a gift from me to me, it’s also for the entire community that surrounds me and has evolved over the years to become an entire event. The birthday party/variety show is called “Hey, it’s me Meliss”. I ask all of my super talented friends to choreograph numbers, sing a song, perform a skit, or create a work of art for me as a birthday present. I curate the show, decide on a theme (this year the theme was “Magic”), pick a host (this year the host was John C. Reilly), choreograph the opening and closing number, and the rest is a surprise! It’s a beautiful gift and surprise for both me and the audience, and because the show is made with so much love it ends up being the best evening ever. There is always a dance party after, and people DANCE because they are so inspired by the show. You will have to come next year. Talk about a joy spreader. This year we sold out a 360 seat theater. It was a blast!
Melissa, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
Hello, I am Melissa Schade. I am a LA-based choreographer, dance teacher, movement director, entertainer, and healer. I do all things dance related. Most folks will know me from my all levels/all inclusive adult dance class I teach at Athletic Garage at 1:30pm every Sunday and most Saturdays. The dance class is joyful, high energy, healing, and super fun. I have 50 adults every Sunday dancing their hearts out. The class is for everyone. I teach adults to love their bodies, feel safe in their bodies, and feel safe moving their bodies in front of their community. On any given day we are healing our inner child or realigning our chakras, all while getting great exercise and dancing to eclectic music. We play, we party, we learn, we heal, we grow, we connect, we dance, we rejoice, because we are alive!! Others may know me from my annual birthday party/variety show I host each year, or the work I do in the industry as a choreographer and movement director. I have had the pleasure of working with amazing artists and brands such as The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Arcade Fire, Nike, and Vogue Magazine just to name a few.
I got into the industry because I wanted to be a choreographer and dancer. My mother was a dancer and choreographer, and both my parents are teachers, so I started dancing and teaching at a very young age. I got my BFA in dance and then moved to LA to pursue a career. My mentor Ryan Heffington owned a studio called the “Sweat Spot” where I worked. He taught a beautiful class for everyone called “Sweaty Sundays”. He taught me how to teach beginner dancers, make dance both accessible and relatable, and the rest is history.
What I think sets me apart from the masses is my ability to spread joy wherever I go, connect with people, and be myself. I have made it my purpose to spark joy in myself and others, to lead from the heart, and make sure I continue to heal myself so that I can heal others, teach others, and lead others. I am able to connect with most people because I am friendly, funny, 100 % myself, open, vulnerable, casual, and relatable. I make people feel at home in whatever space they are in and in their own bodies.
I am so proud of myself, my students, and all the work I have put out and continue to put out into the universe. I consistently show up for myself, my students, and my work. I teach and choreograph with my whole heart, with honesty and authenticity, and because of this my students and dancers show up as their most authentic and honest selves and pour their whole hearts into the choreography. I love what I do, I love my students, and I LOVE DANCE. Through all of this I have learned to love myself, and I teach people to love themselves subsequently. Whether I am teaching my class of adults, working one on one with a celebrity on set, or with a group of professional dancers, I teach them to love their bodies, feel safe in their bodies, and have fun in their bodies.
I would have to say my brand is “joy”. This is the word I hear most when my work or teaching is being described, and I believe it to be true. Pure joy can be accessed through dance and I make it my mission to help people experience joy on a regular basis. Let’s spread joy. Let’s have more fun!
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
The most rewarding aspect of being an artist or creative is freedom. Freedom of expression, freedom from your mind, but also freedom within your own mind to flow, solve problems, and play, freedom of the body, heart, spirit, and soul. I am a dancer and choreographer. Growing up I struggled with feeling, accessing, and identifying my own emotions. I also used to struggle with words and communicating. I would often feel misunderstood. All of this led to a great deal of frustration and bottled up feelings and emotions. Lucky for me I was a dancer. I was able to and have always been able to express myself through dance and movement. Using music as my muse, I could move my body in a way that allowed me to both access and feel deep emotions such as pain, love, joy, ecstasy, sorrow, anger, and grief. Most of these emotions I couldn’t even name out loud, but I was able to express them through my body and feel them deeply. It was freedom. Thank God for dance. As a human I can let my mind take control of me and since dance is a moving meditation I have done my whole life, I can be super present when I dance and I am no longer a slave to my mind. I am in harmony with myself and the universe. When I am in flow state my mind is used strictly in response to the activity. I solve a choreographic problem and create with ease. My mind is clear, I am a channel, and my body is a playground. I feel instead of think. Lastly, to dance is to fly. My body, heart, spirit, and soul are set free when I am dancing. I feel alive. I feel at home. I feel joy, bliss, peace, and FREEDOM.
Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?
Earlier in my career I wish I would have discovered that people are good resources. Your friends, family, teachers, and community. It’s always the stuff right under your nose. I thought I had to do and figure out everything for myself. Now, I call upon my friends, neighbors, community, and family for everything. I am very lucky to have such a huge community. I attribute that to the dance world and being a dance teacher. When my students or friends, young or old, come to me with a problem, I tell them to reach out to their community. Need a job? Ask around. Love a choreographer and want to work with them? Tell them. Tell them you love their work, their class, what they do and that you want to be a part of it. Having trouble starting a business? Ask your friends and neighbors who have small businesses. All of these people are here for you and most people are super helpful. I wouldn’t be anywhere near where I am without the help of my community and I sure as hell wouldn’t have the success I have had or the support I have without my community.
Contact Info:
- Website: melissaschade.com
- Instagram: @MLSCHADE
Image Credits
Mela Laval