About Michele Marie Beaulieux

Michele has been dancing since she could walk – studying and performing modern dance, ballet, mime, improvisation and creative movement.

In Chicago, she performed as a modern dancer at Link’s Hall, the Chicago Cultural Center, and the Blue Rider Theater. Then, in the early 1990’s, she saw a dance concert choreographed by sacred dance leader Maggie Kast and performed in St. Thomas Apostle Church in Hyde Park. Taken by how the setting deepened the meaning of the dancers’ gestures, Michele recognized that the same movements performed on a stage would not have been nearly as compelling. Captivated ever since by the context-specific dance form of liturgical dance, she has worked primarily as a soloist in Roman Catholic, Episcopal, Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian, and other Protestant Christian churches as well as ecumenical and interfaith settings in the greater Chicago area.

For the last decade, Michele has been developing a meditative movement form, Rosary in Motion, which was featured on WTTW’s 30 Good Minutes (scroll down to Michele White). She has led weekend retreats at the Cenacle Retreat Center in Warrenville, Illinois, and at the Sinsinawa Mound Center in Wisconsin as well as prayer hours at Chicago churches and at the Sacred Dance Guild international conference in Claremont, California.

In 2003, during her tenure as president of the Lakeshore Chapter of the Sacred Dance Guild, the Chapter helped the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs organize the Cultural Center concert, “Dancing in the Spirit.” The Chapter also won grants from the Chicago Community Trust and the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs. Michele was quoted in Chicago Tribune articles: The Spirit Moves Them by Sid Smith and Sacred Dance Seeks the Secular by Lucia Mauro.

Michele is a member of the Sacred Dance Guild and the Network of Biblical Storytellers.

Beaulieux, pronounced "bowl YOU," means "beautiful places" in French.

For information on booking, please contact Michele.

Photo: Michele expresses the movement of Pentecost. ©2005 Wade Thrall

© 2006-2010 Michele Marie Beaulieux