Our Founder

MICHELLE GRANT-MURRAY, choreographer, performer, educator, author, and social activist, has presented work in Europe, South America, Asia, the Caribbean and the United States. Currently she is the Artistic Director of Olujimi Dance Theatre, the Miami Dade College Jubilation Dance Ensemble, and the Coordinator of Dance at Miami Dade College Kendall Campus. Michelle is also the author of Beyond the Surface: An Inclusive American Dance History. She has presented work the Moving Body, Moving Image Festival at Barnard College and DanceAfrica Miami. She is the producer and director of A.I.R. Dance Conference. Michelle earned her M.A. Degree in African Studies (Pedagogy & Cultural Studies) fromFlorida International University and her MFA degree in Choreography from Jacksonville University. Michelle is council member and on the Board of The MDC Earth Ethics Institute. She has trained extensively in pedagogy of ballet, Traditional and Contemporary Modern Dance, West Africa, Afro-Brazilian, Jazz Dance and Dance Composition. She has trained with prominent artist across the world such as Reginald Yates, Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, Katherine Dunham, Donlin Foreman, Nora Chipaumire, Rennie Harris, and has studied at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre and the Dance Theatre of Harlem.