Our Story
As with any partnership, the search for a dance partner is a constant quest for balance and compromise while maintaining a unified vision. Mayo Alanen and Michelle Officer hail from different parts of the country and have very different backgrounds but were brought together by their mutual love of the power of dance.
Michelle
Behind the exacting technique and delicate grace of Michelle Officer is a self-proclaimed tomboy who never thought she’d grow up to be a dancer. Michelle is from Minneapolis, Minnesota, where she wasn't introduced to ballroom dance until she was a teenager. After a move to Florida, Michelle attended her first ballroom competition and was awestruck by the level of dancing that she saw. It was at that time that she made a commitment to herself to begin more serious training.
Michelle moved up the East Coast and then to Montreal, Canada where her competitive career really began to take root. After several years of traveling extensively to study International Standard, Michelle then moved back to the United States and found herself fulfilling a childhood dream of living in New York City and competing professionally with an extremely talented partner, Edward Simon. This was an era of new beginnings and new challenges as together they were blessed with almost immediate success. Less than one year after beginning their partnership, Eddie and Michelle became U.S. and World Champions of the Professional Smooth Division.
Mayo
Remarkably, at that same time, a thirteen-year-old kid from El Paso, Texas, was skipping through TV channels when he happened upon a ballroom dance performance on PBS. After a childhood of various sports and musical instruments, his mother wasn’t sure how long this new activity would pique his interest as she flipped through the phonebook in search of a local dance studio. However, Mayo Alanen kept up with his lessons at Shundo Ballroom Dance Studio all though high school and was ultimately rewarded with a ballroom dance scholarship to Brigham Young University.
The BYU program afforded Mayo opportunities he otherwise would have never had such as the ability to perform all over the world and receive coaching from top professionals in the industry. In a strange twist of fate, Gary and Diana McDonald, the same ballroom couple on TV that initially inspired Mayo to dance, invited Mayo to teach and train at their studio, Roger’s Dancesport Center in Fairfield, New Jersey. It was there that Mayo met his first professional dance partner, Lisa Vogel. Together they worked hard and quickly rose through the ranks of the Smooth division to win the U.S. Rising Star title and become U.S. and World Professional finalists.
Joining Paths
However, in the summer of 2009, both Mayo and Michelle found themselves without professional partners and with the gnawing feeling that they still had so much more to explore and say in the Smooth style. Mayo had just completed a stint on Dancing with the Stars and Michelle was judging ballroom competitions between forays into her other loves of music and acting. It was during an event at Rogers Dancesport Center that a conversation was struck that ultimately ended with an agreement to dance together before they even took up a single dance hold.
Over a big bowl of guacamole, Mayo and Michelle discussed what they wanted from a partnership and what they envisioned for the future of the Smooth style. They quickly found that they had very similar belief systems regarding everything from their work ethic and definition of integrity to the importance of fitness and nutrition. They also shared the same dream of seeing their beloved Smooth style danced competitively across the globe and shared with a worldwide audience. It was then that they both decided to form a joyful and positive partnership that would embrace the Smooth style in its full capacity. They also agreed to always make it a priority to give back and inspire others.
After a summer apart Mayo and Michelle created their first showpiece to Moonlight Sonata in Mayo’s hometown studio after only seven days of rehearsal. Shortly afterward they drove from Texas to begin their competitive choreography with David Hamilton at his Dance World of Nashville studio. Three flat tires and almost 2,000 miles later they finally arrived back in New York City where they are now one of the most successful ballroom couples in the world. They currently compete and perform extensively and call Manhattan Ballroom Dance studio home.
Off the dance floor, Mayo and Michelle are ambassadors and advocates for
several non-profit organizations.
Learn more about the causes that Mayo and Michelle
support
