Mike Topel

Associate Instructor

Mike began line dancing in 1992, and he quickly turned to swing, Latin, Country and American social dance when he found dance partners who liked to be tossed in the air. He started teaching regular dance classes in 1994 and eventually quit an office job in 1998 to teach dance full-time.

Mike's teaching style was developed from his martial arts background (where, as a second-degree black belt, he taught for five years), and his appreciation for improvisational theater.

Mike prefers to compete in dance events that test his leading and/or following skills. He learned that the balance and physical control of the martial arts could be applied to social dancing, and found that this was his greatest strength.

Mike continues to practice, perform, compete, judge, MC and teach. He's performed at the last eight US Open Swing Dance Championships, UCWDC Country Worlds, and everywhere in the country in the NASDE and WSDC swing circuits. He judges at just about every event, and is the Chief Judge for several Midwestern events. He MCs from time-to-time, including Summer Hummer, Michigan Classic, Tampa Bay Classic, Twin Cities Masquerade Ball and Nashville Classic. He's the Event Director of MadMAC, a swing dance event in Madison, Wisconsin. He's hoping to create a similar event in Austin, Texas, where he now lives.

With students all over the country, Mike especially loves to dance socially — into the wee hours of the night — where developing those four-minute relationships over and over again is a skill unto itself.