Co-Founder of an internationally acclaimed Jazz company (DJD) and University Professor of Dance, Michele Moss is a lover of all the world of dance. How do you build a successful dance company? How do you mentor young dancers from university into a career? What can we do for our bodies to create longevity? We cover it all. And talk about career envy! Michele has conducted ethnographic research in field sites such as Italy, Jamaica, Poland, India, Japan, Sénégal and The Gambia, West Africa as well as New York City, New Orleans, Winnipeg, Toronto, Victoria, Paris and Monréal to name a few locales. Her most significant ethnographic field sites are Guinée, West Africa and Cuba. Her professional training has her seek out many experiences including swing, salsa, house dance as well as educational and current training practices to enhance her studio practice. Her research mostly takes the form of creation projects but also includes textual projects, recently co-authoring chapters, with Dr. Jill Crosby, on the history of jazz in a Feb 2014 publication from the University Press of Florida called Jazz Dance: Roots and Branches. She greatly enjoys her U of C teaching assignments and finds the studio a vibrant place to be.