Ballroom · Latin · Smooth · Rhythm · Theater Arts
Dancer · Producer · Examiner
Serious about the craft. Not stodgy … yet.
The credentials
Michael Choi is a professional ballroom dancer, teacher trainer, and examiner in New York City. He holds Fellowships — the top teaching credential — in International Ballroom, International Latin, and American Smooth, examines for Dance Vision and AIDA, and is a Fellow of the ISTD in London. A two-time Ohio Star Ball Smooth semi-finalist, he now spends his energy raising the standard of the profession: training teachers, building exam content, and holding the line on technique — without ever making it feel like a lecture.
Fellow — International Ballroom · International Latin · American Smooth·Licentiate — American Rhythm & Theatre Arts·Examiner — Dance Vision & AIDA·Fellow, ISTD (London)·AADTA Board of Directors
What he builds
From a DanceSport competition in Oklahoma City to a December challenge at the TWA Hotel and a three-act showcase at the Salmagundi Club, Michael produces and choreographs a full slate each year.
The mission
The fastest way to raise the level of the room is to raise the level of the people teaching it. Michael examines, mentors, and builds the tools the exam boards haven't gotten to yet.
The writing
Long-form, technique-first, occasionally irreverent writing on how the dancing actually works.
Line of dance does two jobs at once — floorcraft on a crowded floor, and the vocabulary for which way a body points. A field guide, rebuilt with seven new diagrams.
All models are wrong. Some of them can dance. Two hands and the lower core — the wrong, useful model I hand people most often, and why it degrades so gracefully…
I asked ChatGPT to compare professions based on how much training time one puts in to each and this is what they came up with. That basically checks out with my own experience,…