Meet Elise Mireille | Actress, dancer & director of THERAPY OF DANCE

We had the good fortune of connecting with Elise Mireille and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Elise, how did you come up with the idea for your business?
I created THERAPY OF DANCE in 2019 because I needed an antidepressant and I couldn’t afford therapy at the time. I was living in Berlin, it was winter and the days were endless grey blurs. It was a struggle for me to stay optimistic within a sea of black clothing, sleepless techno filled nights and a heavy drug culture while I was battling dependency issues, so out of a dark place I realised I needed to reconnect to dance. I danced competitively within a crew for 10 years growing up back home in Aotearoa/New Zealand, and that crew felt like home to me. I wanted to recreate that feeling and create a gateway to community in Berlin, so I used the best language I knew, dance, and started a weekly dance class. It’s 30 min mental health chat and 60 min dance choreography, and it’s been snowballing ever since…

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Most of the time I dance because I don’t know what else to do with myself. There’s really nothing else to it. If I don’t move my body I become depressed. At one point I had myself wondering if I was ADHD on top of everything else, and my Mum told me that I’m an energetic creature who needs a focus, otherwise everything bleeds into one. Dance has always been my focus, and in reflection, a lifeline for over 20 years now. It costs nothing and I can always rely on it, give or take a few injuries here and there. In hindsight I’m so grateful for my dance with depression, as it’s led me to start THERAPY OF DANCE Classes, which caused us to launch our podcast, dance wear collection, and land the opportunity to collaborate on dance commercials with brands like Adidas, Nike and Zalando. I even had a student ask me to choreograph her on ice for a short film. Never in a million years did I think I would go on to create on this scale, or become an advocate for mental health on platforms like Refinery 29, or here in LA on Shoutout today! These moments make me trust that you don’t need to be the best at something to make a living out of what you love, you just need to be uniquely yourself and everything will fall into place.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Very fresh to LA – only moved here 6 weeks ago, so I’m discovering everything for the first time… Other than exploring the dreamy coastlines that California has to offer, here’s a list of things I’ve loved so far in no particular order: Angel Olsen & Sharon van Etten at The Greek Theatre, a cocktail at Gold Line in Highland Park, pasta at la Pergoletta, and line dancing with Stud Country at Plaza in Hollywood on a Monday night.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My relationship to dance began officially when I joined a class at PUMP DANCE STUDIOS around 9 years old in Wellington, NZ. This weekly class quickly became my absolute everything and developed into competitive training, then teaching, and so on. The studio became my home, the dancer’s my family, and teachers my role models. The hustle I contributed to – choreographing for classes on a weekly basis, creating large scale end of year performances, fundraising $40,000 as a crew of 14 to make it to our first world championships in Europe as a high school student – this discipline has shaped my work ethic as an adult, and is a part of why I felt confident enough to create THERAPY OF DANCE. I owe so much of my power to the example that my teachers set for me.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elise_mireille/

Image Credits
Image 1 Patricia Ruiz del Portal https://www.instagram.com/patricia.ruizdelportal/?hl=en Image 2 For THERAPY OF DANCE by Tabitha Swanson https://www.instagram.com/tabithaswanson_/?hl=en Image 3 Pauli a.k.a Hello Sasy https://www.instagram.com/hello.sasy/?hl=en Image 4 Patricia Ruiz del Portal https://www.instagram.com/patricia.ruizdelportal/?hl=en Image 5 Shauna Summers https://www.instagram.com/shaunasummers_/?hl=en