Melissa Silva is a passionate, award-winning choreographer best known for her innovative and creative concepts. She has been named and won Best Overall Choreographer both regionally and nationally countless times over the span of her career. She is a very sought after contemporary/lyrical teacher and choreographer who has also won many teacher recognition awards and the highest mark of many competitions. Melissa has spent the past decade as a Competitive Director, a proud member of the Professional Adjudicators Alliance and faculty member at Sheridan Collage. She brings with her a wealth of knowledge and understanding from all sides of the business. Melissa has been training and studying the art of dance since the age of 5 and also became a professionally working singer and actor. She spent 3 years living and working in New York City after she was the sole recipient of the National Scholarship Award to attend The American Musical and Dramatic Academy. Throughout Melissa’s career she has performed on stages in Hamilton, Burlington, Toronto, NYC, LA and overseas on a cruise ship. She has been fortunate to be a part of some amazing casts and companies. Some of Melissa’s favorite roles played are “Millie” from Thoroughly Modern Millie, “Queenie” from The Wild Party, “Shirley Temple” from A Day in Hollywood, “The Narrator” from A Christmas Carol and “Sue” from Rock Around the Clock. Melissa also spent a summer as a principal dancer and singer at Lake Compounce Theme Park in Connecticut where she shared the same stage as Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald many years before her. You can also find her on The Oprah Winfrey Network starring in the TV show “Cold Blood” as the principal character Tamara Tadum. Melissa is very passionate about her dance education and has had the privilege of training with the best in the world. Mia Michaels, Tyce Diorio, Desmond Richardson, Tessandra Chevez and Brian Freedman just to name a few. Melissa’s extensive education and career have allowed her to guide her students onto professional careers of their own and she does so with a humbled heart. She takes her craft very seriously and is driven by a passion to help cultivate raw, honest, sincere work in order to create not just dancers but artists of the future.