“Michael opened my eyes to the rhythm of a scene and answered all my acting questions.”  – Miles Faber, Top 10 SYTYCD Canada

Comedy is so dependent on pacing and rhythm, so I find that dancers can pick up on comedy quite well once they realize its “choreography”. Once dancers realize that expression is transferable, they can click into dramatic scenes and allow the same expressive source within them to fuel words rather than movement…

“Michael has a way of connecting what he is teaching to what I already know as a dancer. He bridged the gap…Michael’s class was the first time I actually felt like an actor, not just a dancer trying to be an actor.” -Bree Wasylenko, Top 20 SYTYCD Canada, Series Regular in The Next Step 

"Talent is the capacity for exceptional learning in a specific field. It doesn’t matter what your talent is – what’s important is that you know what it feels like to connect the dots with ease. You know what it’s like to be in the zone. You know what it’s like to express yourself fully. Those experiences are transferrable. People think that if they transition from one performance career to another that they have to start all over again. I say no. I have worked with many dancers and it is miraculous what happens when they apply what they know from dance to a scene they’re working on in class. They just have to shift their mindset slightly and build a bridge from one modality to the other. Once they get it, they get it. I love working with dancers – they are expressive, technical and have great discipline. Those qualities create a great launch pad for an acting career.”     – Michael D. Cohen