Michael Schumacher began dancing in musical theatre productions in his hometown of Lewiston, Idaho. After moving to New York, he received a B.F.A. in Dance from the Juilliard School. He currently resides in Amsterdam.
He has been a member of Ballet Frankfurt, Twyla Tharp Dance,
the Feld Ballet, and the Pretty Ugly Dance Company. As a choreographer Schumacher has twice collaborated with the dancers of Ballet Frankfurt, creating Splendor Shed (1990) and many other artists (like Daniela Graça, Marcelo Evelin, and Anat Geiger); for NDT III, he conceived and directed The Moment (2001).
A leading figure in the discipline of improvisation, he continues to perform with Amsterdam’s Magpie Music Dance Company and conducts workshops in movement analysis and improvisation techniques worldwide. We could see him in Poznan in STAU by Anouk van Dijk (2004) and in February 2007 Michael was again guest of Stary Browar with the coaching project on improvisation/real-time composition.