251. Mel Mah: Dance as Energy, Not Identity
This is Mel Mah on intuition, container-shifting, and letting dance lead you to your voice.
In this episode, Mel Mah, writer, director, producer, former professional dancer, and internationally renowned yoga teacher, shares her journey from dancing for icons like Janet Jackson to directing her first feature film. We explore:
The art of creative incubation. Why Mel treats her work like birthing a child, protecting ideas in their vulnerable early stages, and the deep meditation required to step back from your own material and see it objectively, especially when you're both writer and director
Dance as energy, not identity. How Mel discovered that rhythm, emotional expression, and storytelling don't disappear when you leave the stage, they simply find new containers. Why she never really left dance; it just transitioned with her into teaching, directing, and writing
The unexpected gift of rejection. How not booking tours early in her LA years created space for something else: teaching yoga at Millennium's loft on Sunday mornings to five or six people, discovering her voice, and recognizing a calling that dance alone couldn't fulfill
This conversation reveals what happens when we stop defining ourselves by what we do and start recognizing the essence that flows through everything we do. Whether you're navigating your own transition out of performing, searching for ways to use your voice, or learning to trust divine timing when doors don't open, Mel's journey offers a masterclass in how dancers inherently understand transformation; we just have to trust the choreography.
Watch the full episode here.
Show Notes:
Listen to our Parents Roundtable
Listen to Kat’s episode
Listen to Mimi’s episode
Listen to the Seaweed Sisters Episode
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