The Joffrey Ballet, an internationally renowned dance company based right here in Chicago, provides many opportunities for young people to learn several styles of dance arts. For the last 10 years, former performer and dance instructor from the Joffrey Ballet, Michael Smith, has been coming to Jones to work with Dance II students to choreograph their piece for the Fall Dance Concert.

“Part of the intention of having Michael here’s to have someone who comes in with a different choreographic process or a different approach to creativity than I do,” said Ms. Foshay, the Jones dance instructor.

Getting to work with a professional gives dance students the opportunity to look at dance from a new perspective. 

“He’s coming from an internationally renowned company, and he’s able to bring that level of expectation and that standard of professional practice to the classroom,” said Foshay.

Michael experiments with several different styles of dance, encouraging his students to try new things. 

“One week he had us doing Majorette, another we did jazz, and another ballet. It really got me to branch out, especially because most of my training has been in ballet.” said Victoria Adoni ‘26. 

Teaching here at Jones has been an incredible experience for Michael over the years.

“I am teaching kids to use their bodies to express themselves in a creative way. I love having the opportunity to help people learn more about themselves through movement.” said Michael. “I know Ms. Foshay is going to let me do whatever in this space, so I have gotten more comfortable with pushing the students in wild ways.”

Michael influences his students in major ways, both technically and personally .  

“He has left such a big impact on me and the way I dance. He gave me a dance persona, and it sort of helped me let go of my anxieties while I’m dancing” said Victoria Adoni ‘26. Micheal has left a unique impact on the Jones dance community. 

Michael is very grateful for the opportunities given to him at Jones, especially the communities he’s helped to build along the way. 

“Now especially, some of us might feel like we have no community, we are keepers of that dream. Together, we can build our own communities and we get to practice how we want to live within them.” said Michael. “I think that’s beautiful. They can try to make things very hard for you, but at the end of the day we are in control of our own joy.”