February 2023 marks the beginning of SK Arts' 75th anniversary year. On February 3, 1948, the Saskatchewan Arts Board opened its doors, supporting artists across the province. As we celebrate this milestone, we look to honour the past, the present and the future of the province's vibrant arts community with the We Celebrate You campaign. SK Arts asked 75 established artists to nominate one strong, emerging artist, program or training opportunity that makes the future of Saskatchewan arts exciting.

Photo credit: Tanner Piper - In the Air, performed by Youth Ballet of Saskatchewan Company, 2022, choreographed by Michelle McMillan

Michelle McMillan

Dance has always been Michelle’s passion. She trained near her hometown in Southern California, with a primary focus on classical ballet. She also enjoyed and trained in jazz, tap, vocal and instrumental music. Michelle pursued a career in dance and spent 15 years dancing throughout the United States and Europe in various capacities. She danced in regional ballet companies, for Disney, as a Radio City Rockette, in Equity musical theatre productions, and even performed as a fire-eater with Penn & Teller in Las Vegas. While dancing as an adage specialty act onboard Norwegian Cruise Lines, Michelle met her husband and moved to his home in Saskatchewan.

For the past 15 years, Michelle has worked for the Youth Ballet of Saskatchewan as an instructor, choreographer, and Artistic Director. Her passion now includes education and the enrichment of our community through the art of dance and making dance accessible and inclusive. She hopes to inspire others to pursue and appreciate dance beyond their childhood years, believing that dance is truly for everyone. She sits on the Board of Directors with Dance Saskatchewan Inc. and looks forward to broadening her knowledge and sharing dance with our community.

Photo credit: Joey Forte - Anne Neudorf, 241

Anne Neudorf

Anne Neudorf is an emerging contemporary dancer. Growing up in Regina, Saskatchewan, Anne took classes and was part of the company at Youth Ballet of Saskatchewan. During her time there, she completed training up to Advanced I in the Royal Academy of Dance and attended multiple renowned summer intensives throughout high school. Since then, she has been training at a professional level at the School of Contemporary Dancers in Winnipeg, Manitoba and working toward a Bachelor of Arts Honours at the University of Winnipeg. Anne has worked with Stephanie Ballard and Dancers: Landscape Dancing, Deaf Arts Manitoba Magic of ASL, New Dance Horizons Festival Stream of Dance, Youth Ballet of Saskatchewan, Arts Accessibility Network Manitoba and Winnipeg’s Contemporary Dancers Emerging Artist Initiative. She also teaches dance and is inspired by movers of all ages. Anne continuously explores finding connection and emotion through contemporary dance and looks forward to contributing to the arts in Saskatchewan.

“…powerful, engaging, dynamic and at a professional standard.” – Michelle McMillan.

I engaged Anne and her choreographic partner Natalie Sluis to set a work on the Youth Ballet Company in August of 2022. Anne is a former student of the Youth Ballet of Saskatchewan, and thus I am very familiar with her passion, dedication, discipline and work ethic. The work created for our performances was powerful, engaging, dynamic and at a professional standard. I truly look forward to the future she could bring to our province in the discipline of dance.