Austin Swing Dance Teacher: Mike Topel

Mike began country line dancing in 1992, and he quickly turned to Swing, Latin, Country, and American social dance when he found dance partners who liked to be tossed in the air. He started teaching regular dance classes in 1994 and eventually quit an office job in 1998 to teach dance and perform full-time.

Mike's teaching style was developed from his martial arts background (where, as a second-degree black belt, he taught for five years) and his taste for improvisational theater.

Mike prefers to compete in dance events that test his leading, following, and improvisational skills. He learned that the balance and physical control that he developed in martial arts could be applied to social dancing and found that his was his greatest strength.

Mike continues to practice, perform, compete, judge, MC and teach. He has:

• Performed for the last decade at the US Open Swing Dance Championships, UCWDC Country Worlds, and everywhere in the country in the NASDE and WSDC swing circuits. He judges at just about every event, and is the Chief Judge for several Midwestern events.
• MC'd Summer Hummer, Michigan Classic, Tampa Bay Classic, Twin Cities Masquerade Ball, Wisconsin Dance Challenge, Chicagoland, and Nashville Classic.
  
• Served as the Event Director of MadMAC, a swing dance event in Madison, Wisconsin. (Soon he'll bring a similar one to Austin.)

With students all over the country, Mike gives special attention to his social dancing, which keeps him up until 4 AM on the weekends he's on the road. During the week he teaches regular classes around town, and DJs a weekly (Wednesday) swing dance.

Mike participated in Dancing With the Austin Stars in 2008.

You can contact Mike directly at miketopel@yahoo.com