Micaela Todd, also known as MicciT, has been dancing for almost her whole life and has won various international awards. She’s been singing for less than a year, but she’s already recorded three songs. At just 15 years old, she’s already achieved an awful lot. Daisy Jones spoke to Micci, a star who’s not just rising – she’s shooting.
Micci started dancing by accident, after walking past a local village hall and seeing a ballet class. She joined the class aged just three and she hasn’t stopped dancing since. Now, Micci performs show, modern and jazz, but she still values ballet as a technique builder and is preparing to take her Advanced 1 exam in September. With such a strong commitment to dance, school has taken a backseat.
“Dance has taken preference in my life and I try to fit school into the balance,” says Micci, “I’m not at mainstream school – I’m studying with Cambridge International so I have a lot more freedom for dance.”
Micci’s dedication has paid dividends and she has won a number of prestigious awards. She travelled to Portugal for the Dance World Cup in July 2014, competed against some of the stars of Dance Moms UK, which got Micci a few seconds of TV exposure in the series and won gold for her modern solo and silver for her showdance solo performances.
Following this success, Micci competed in the IDO World Championships in Poland, winning an incredible four gold and five silver medals. In December she will visit Poland again to defend her titles.
Although dance is Micci’s main love, she recently started singing. After shower singing for years, she decided to start vocal and acting lessons in late 2014 to help build a career in musical theatre. Through her company SING (Sing, Inspire, Nurture and Grow) Productions, Eden Michelle recorded Micci’s debut song, a love ballad called Our Song, in preparation for her recent trip to America.
“It was a very apt song as I had just met my current boyfriend,” Micci smiles.
After releasing Our Song, Micci recorded a cover of Meghan Trainor’s Dear Future Husband, and co-wrote the song Warrior with Nate Butler.
A highly ambitious young woman, Micci is focused on training and preparing herself for a career in dance, singing and acting. She’s just come back from her first visit to America, where she took an important step towards fulfilling her dreams.
“The ARTS is like a talent showcase, where you perform in front of agents for the likes of Disney and the New York Film Academy. I took part in various art forms such as dance, singing, acting and modelling. I was awarded top dancer and came second in my monologue. I received nine call-backs from various agents and held 1:1 meetings with them. I will maintain contact with them and hopefully this will produce opportunities for me in a few years time after I complete my schooling.”
While she was in America, Micci took part in the highly competitive American Dance Awards competition (ADA).
“I was the South African title dancer and competed against 43 dancers from America and Canada in my age group. It was a great experience to dance with them and also hold classes with top teachers.”
Micci’s recent experiences in America have inspired her to keep reaching for her dreams.
“In New York I trained at the Broadway Dance Company and it made me realise that there are thousands of dancers striving for the same thing. I need to be able to offer something different and to hopefully be noticed.”
Micci’s dreams are big, and she confides that she would love to work on Broadway or in the West End.
“I am passionate about dance,” says Micci, “I have the gift to dance and sing and I can think of nothing better than to entertain people.”
Wow wow wow you are amazing, and God has given you this Talent, so just keep on singing and dancing and reach for your dream , there is nothing better in life than to do what you love doing, you are going places my girl, you have the whole world at your feet, I wish you happiness and great success on your life path forward, mom and dad must be so proud of you.