Shelli Manzoline, Acting in Motion Founder, Performance Trainer
Shelli has been acting since she was a youth growing up in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. She received an acting scholarship to attend Northern Michigan University where she majored in Theater and Philosophy. She furthered her studies at Miami University of Ohio in Oxford and took her first job under an Equity contract working for the Walt Disney World Corp. as a writer and performer for The Anicomical Players. She moved to England to direct and perform Atmospheric Improvisation at Strawberry Moons, Ltd. She returned to the States, and spent the next four years as Resident Company Member of Dudley Riggs Brave New Workshop- writing, performing and teaching Improvisation. She has made her home in Minneapolis, performing at Hey City Theater, Theatre de la Jeune Lune, Old Log Theater, History Theater, Guthrie Theater, Theater Garage and more. She has done film, television, and she works as an on-camera and voice talent represented exclusively by Moore Creative Casting. Shelli enjoys working with Youth: she has toured schools in New York and New England, taught Voice and Acting for Dancers at Ashley Ballet Arts Academy and Platinum Dance Center and has spent many years as a private coach for both Actors and Dancers. Recently, Shelli has been working in talent development and has taken on the role of Art Director for music videos such as Karma, recently released by emerging artist, Grayson DeWolfe.
Shelli is celebrating her 5th year as Artistic Director, Youth Company Director and Writer for the Minnesota Dance Collaborative- a performance based dance and theater company located in the Twin Cities. She is excited to begin the MDC season with a new music video project, an MDC Showcase, and to continue the HoliDaydream tradition at Park Square in Saint Paul. MDC not only does full stage performance, they are committed to community involvement- performing at local events such as the Hollidazzle Village, Highland Festival, Rice Park Tree Lighting as well as volunteering at Children’s Hospitals and Clinics, Feed My Starving Children and Open Arms. As Artistic Director of MDC, Shelli is committed to creating unique and exciting theatre experiences as well as to being part of a Leadership Team who strive to be positive role models in the community.
Founding Acting in Motion is the next step in Shelli’s personal and professional journey and a natural extension of her ongoing work with MDC.
It is difficult to count the number of competitions I have attended and the one thing that comes up over and over again is the need for Performance in the dance arena. Parents, Teachers, Studio Owners and Convention Directors all agree- one of the most elusive skills in the competitive dance world is the ability to perform, to tell a story. Because I am an Actor, Theatre Educator and Youth Company Director I have often been asked to teach “Face” and my response is always the same: I do not teach face but I can teach your Dancer to act. I cannot put a face on anything but through acting we can allow the natural and intrinsic emotion of the piece to be revealed.