Michelle Rigo—a native Georgian—traces her beginnings in dance to high school when she was a member of her small boarding school’s basketball dance squad. Though she didn’t see herself as a future dancer, Rigo still carried her dancer’s spirit throughout college. A chemistry major with a biology minor at Piedmont College, her future plans didn’t involve dance.

However, while looking for a job in Jacksonville, Florida Michelle found herself going back to dance again. She popped into a dance studio with an application and, after receiving her training, became a ballroom dance instructor.

Michelle began teaching with Ballroom Dance Clubs of Atlanta five years ago. She took her dancing feet to Wisconsin for a year, but missed Georgia weather and her friends at Ballroom Dance Clubs of Atlanta.

For Michelle, who gave up scientific chemistry to focus on dance chemistry, her favorite part of teaching ballroom dance is “watching someone get it for the first time,” she says. She gets the most satisfaction from her job when she sees a student finally master a step or technique they may have struggled with in the past.

When she doesn’t have her dancing shoes on, Rigo loves to read science fiction novels, cook, and bake. Michelle is currently an instructor at Ballroom Dance Clubs of Atlanta’s Metro Location.