When Michela Deidda, in art Miki Tuesday, dances – whether it is on stage in theaters, or on the dancefloor in New York City’s clubs – you feel the full force and strength of a woman’s power. Female empowerment is, in fact, an ever-present theme when she teaches, when she choreographs, and of course, when she dances. Her dance career took off at an early age with performances, choreographies, and competitions that brought her throughout Italy, where she was born and raised, and where she first fell in love with street dance styles. Her move to New York in 2010 was a natural consequence of that love, and she delved head-on into broadening her knowledge, starting with studying at the renown Peridance Capezio Center.
She soon found her calling in the street dance style Waacking, and since then has dedicated herself to increasing the reach and bringing back the popularity of this dance style. “Waacking is for me a conversation with others, and most importantly with yourself”, she says. And continues, “The audience asks a question and you answer. Your words are your movements, and you need to find yourself first, to be able to share your message. I am so grateful to be able to do this in New York because this city is open to any type of art, and the multi-ethnicity of the dancers I can connect with is extremely inspiring. Dance fulfills my life and I every day here I reach a higher level.”
Credit: Lauriane Ogay
Deidda has quickly become an established, well known and respected presence in the New York City street dance scene, and performs with some of the greatest, such as Buddha Stretch, Nubian Nene, Svea Schneider, Tweet Boogie, Michelle Byrd McPhee, Princess Lockeroo, Chanan Lareche, and Robert Taylor.
She has competed and won as a dancer and choreographer in competitions internationally. Her list of accomplishments is long, too long to list entirely. To give an idea: whether in Italy (including Best Show, World Dance Competition, MC Hip Hop Contest), the US – from NYC (including Rep Your Style, Step Ya Game Up, HDI, Ladies of Hip Hop), to San Francisco (Do It Disco), to Seattle (Punk & Funk), to name a few – or in Canada (Hot Mess), if she doesn’t win, she always ranks in the final, semifinal and quarter-finals against worldwide renown dancers.
Credit: Melika Dez
Since her move to New York, the offers have been continuous, which says a lot about her talent and dedication. Her resume is long, amongst other accomplishments she has been a company member of KINEMATIC Dance Theater since 2012, performing in 2013 at the Fringe Festival and Flushing Town Hall Theater with the show “Insekta”; in 2015 she also joined the “Phyllis Rose Dance Company”. An accredited teacher, since 2014 has been teaching in dance schools in New York (including Peridance, where she was once a student, Broadway Dance Center, EXPG, PMT Dance Studio, and NYU) and has taught workshops across the US in Boston (Brookline Academy of Dance), Seattle (The Beacon), Salt Lake City (Millenium Complex), and in London (Base Studio).
Credit: Alexander Bitar
In 2015 she founded the Waacking dance company “International Affair”, of which she is an artistic director and choreographer. The first of its kind in New York, International Affair holds a name appropriate to the nature of the city that formed Deidda as a Waacker, and to the nationalities of its members, which so far include China, Bosnia, France, South Korea, United States, and of course, Italy. Her choreography presents and exalts femininity: pointedly avoiding sexual objectification, Deidda’s works portray and promote the essence of a woman who is strong, sophisticated, sensual and classy. “Silent Film”, created for and performed at the 2018 Ladies of Hip Hop showcase at the Alvin Ailey Theater in New York, is an excellent example of her creativity, vision, and talent. Her unique choice in using music from silent films, quite different from the disco music that Waacking is usually danced to, her effortless style and taste (she is “made in Italy” after all), the originality and character of her own dancing and that brings out in company members make for a performance that takes you in minutes through the entire range of human emotions and leaves you fulfilled. “The piece is a masterful vignette of street dance meets jazz meets Vaudeville! It captures the feelings, stature and more importantly, culture of all three genres and encapsulates them in one great performance!” was the enthusiastic response of Buddha Stretch, who has choreographed for the likes of Eric B. and Rakim, Will Smith and Mariah Carey, and danced for many others, including Michael Jackson.
There is much anticipation for her next performance with International Affair, on December 1st, 2019 at the Manhattan Movement & Arts Center (New York City): definitely not to be missed.
