Meet Michaella Ho | Dancer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Michaella Ho and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Michaella, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
My venture, Contemporary Dance Lab (CDL), is a dance education program for aspiring young dancers considering careers in concert contemporary dance. As a recent Juilliard graduate, I invite former schoolmates – now emerging professionals – to teach, create, and share with the next generation. Through week-long intensives, we explore movement and career possibilities.

Launched in Toronto last summer, CDL was born from my connections with Toronto’s talented dancers and the lack of opportunities in contemporary concert dance built for advanced levels. By assembling a team of like-minded peers, CDL aims to inspire and educate our community. Starting this business during my senior year at Juilliard, I feared my limited experience outside of school would make my program seem less valid. My fears subsided when several students expressed to me what a breath of fresh air CDL was. Because of our youth, we were able to connect with our students and share our experiences as equals. After all, we were just in their shoes and can more easily relate to them.

My peers inspire me to keep growing this business. After years of attending school together, I know their values, beliefs, challenges and setbacks. I want to be someone who can provide opportunities for them, and I want others to experience the magic I have felt with them both in and out of the studio. The success of my business draws on these wonderful individuals.

Expanding CDL to Florida for a winter intensive felt natural given its similar pool of young talent and my connections through Juilliard to Florida-native contemporary dancers. To inspire the next generation, CDL must extend beyond Toronto and connect with dancers in communities ready for growth.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I started dancing at a very young age, so it felt quite natural to continue as I grew up. Committing to dance as a “career” was never a formal decision. Instead, each step of my dancing career has been propelled by a goal – wanting to do ballet, wanting to go to a better ballet school, wanting to transition to contemporary dance professionally, wanting to steer the conversation on dance etc. Being goal-oriented, I love that I can constantly embrace challenges in this field. Being told something is ‘impossible’ energizes me. Failure can sometimes mean redirection, but to me, it mostly means to get up and try again.

During my pre-professional career, I attended summer intensives (like the one I run now) that took me worldwide in addition to my regular year-round ballet training. After graduating from Juilliard, starting work in the professional world, and owning a business, I am proud of myself for putting in the work to never give up on my goals. Of course, there have been plenty of formidable moments where it would have been easy to walk away – constant rejections, injuries, surgery, burnout, or psychological trauma. All these obstacles have challenged me in those moments – Is my art worth it? I’m grateful that my commitment to saying ‘yes’ to my art has led me to a life filled with ultimately rewarding and thrilling challenges.

As I move forward in my career, dance continually teaches me that one dancer’s version of success will not look the same as any other dancer’s. As artists, we are nudged into boxes of conformity to check off standardized goals (something I am guilty of). In reality, dancers possess the ability and the tenacity to break these preconceived notions of what we think a career should be. This realization fuels my desire to help others embrace change, take risks, and define success on their own terms.

Embracing interests outside of dance has furthered my ability within the dance world. During a medical gap year from Juilliard due to a knee injury & surgery, I ended up attending Columbia University. Albeit hesitant at first (because all I wanted to do was dance), I ended up loving my 2 semesters in the academic world. Attending Columbia gave me the confidence to create CDL as I could see myself as something other than just a dancer and, therefore, capable of things beyond my artistic self.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I don’t think I’m the right person to answer this question. I am excited to develop a relationship to this wonderful city, but I have yet to explore it to the depths to which I would feel comfortable answering this question 🙂 As a Canadian (who is also currently living in the mountains of Colorado!), I will say that the one thing I appreciate is the oh so lovely weather.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
It takes a village to raise a dancer! From my first ballet school in Toronto (Academy of Ballet and Jazz), to the Juilliard school, I have been met with care, support and love by my teachers & directors.

My mentor from Toronto, Christina Diguiseppe, holds a very special place in my life. We met through my ballet studio when I was 13, and she quickly became someone I deeply trusted. Christina pushed my artistry and encouraged me to embrace the idea of making “beautiful messes.” Even during periods when we don’t speak often due to our busy schedules, she immediately understands me on a deeply spiritual, creative, and iconoclastic level. She’s never afraid to challenge me, ensuring I don’t settle for the easier path.

I also want to shoutout the two dance studios that host my program: Elite Danceworx in Toronto, Canada, for hosting my lab last summer, and Performance Edge 2 in Boca Raton for hosting our winter lab in January. Without their support, this would not be possible! Both studios have welcomed me with open arms, sharing my program with their students because they believe in my vision. Their generosity highlights something special about the dance world: though the job market is competitive, the community itself is bound together by a shared passion for movement. It’s inspiring to see how much we support one another in pursuing our art. After all, it’s our sense of community that keeps the dance world thriving.

Lastly, I would like to give a huge shoutout to my parents. I am incredibly blessed to have parents that are willing to trust their child’s passions and whims. I have taken them on a roller coaster of extreme risks, and they are always the first to say “yes, and” (unless it’s something super, super dangerous). They are my biggest support system, and the first to catch me when I fall.

Website: https://contemporarydancelab.com

Instagram: @contemporarydancelab or @michaellaho (business account vs professional dance account)

Facebook: Contemporary Dance Lab

Image Credits
photographer: Jeff Ho Photography