Michelle Noëlle
When I was just a little 3 year old girl, in a small town in the Netherlands, I would always watch my sister’s dance classes. Silently I observed every step she took, mesmerised by the beauty of classical ballet. Her teacher allowed me to start classes at 3 years of age, as I was so interested and focused. Years of dance followed varying from classical ballet, contemporary, jazz and hip hop. I spent countless afternoons dancing and would teach my friends choreographies that I created. When I was 17, I got the opportunity to start teaching dance, mostly to children and teenagers, which I was very passionate about.
Photography by Lynn Alaoui
Reflecting on my early teaching days, I realize that this experience has ignited a fire in my heart. It was then and there that I knew that teaching dance would be my future. Dance enables you to find yourself and lose yourself at the same time, and creating opportunities for people to experience this, is the most beautiful thing in the world.
After moving to Paris and a long break from dance classes, stepping into a studio seemed like a massive step. I feared that I would not be as good as the other dancers in this big city, and what scared me even more was that I wouldn’t be as good as I used to be. The fear seemed so much bigger than the joy that dance has always given me. I decided to start something new instead and signed up for pole dance classes. Very rapidly it I fell hopelessly in love with this amazing sport.
The studio where I trained became my second home, a place where I could overcome fears, try things I didn’t knew were possible and make new friends. I started yoga as a practical and very complementary tool to gain more strength and flexibility for pole, but as I started learning more about what yoga really entails, I realised that it truly matches the values that are guiding me through life. Yoga, in all its elements, is something I practice daily, both on and off my mat.
Photography by Marc Ramet
To take my practice to another level I decided to do my teacher trainings, both in pole dance and yoga, and dive deeper into the side of dance that felt so natural to me. This is where Liquid Motion came on my path. I crossed oceans to get certified, because I could feel so strongly that this was going to bring great quality to my movement, teaching, and overall development. These three practices together gained me a much greater good than just the joy that dance used to give me in my younger days. It has become one of my most natural places to be, on the floor, on my mat, or with my pole.. eyes closed, connected to the music & my body, following its movement, it is where I truly feel free from all thought.
Since 2017, I have been teaching pole, Liquid Motion and yoga at various studios in and around Paris. However, I have spent most of my time teaching small group classes in private settings. I love to work with clients in such an intimate setting over a long period of time, where I truly get to know them, their strengths and design classes that are both challenging and fulfilling.
Besides my career in pole, dance and movement, I have working as a life and empowerment coach for the past couple of years. Ever since the start of my coaching study and practice, I saw the amazing effect that coaching can have on someone’s life in a short amount of time. I got to experience the creative and challenging thought processes, the partnership between coach and client and creating that space in which a client feels empowered to take control of the situation - which was incredibly rewarding. Although my study trained me in business, executive and life coaching, my clientele consists mostly of women focusing on life coaching and entrepreneurship.
Experiencing and recognizing the power of coaching, and working with this type of clients, created a strong desire to support and empower women to live their life from a foundation of self love, strong desires and a maximized potential. As I started noticing how coaching goes hand in hand with the effects and benefits of movement and spirituality that both myself and my students are experiencing, a bigger vision emerged, one in which I would marry all these elements together in order to allow my clients to decide what might support them in their journey. With this vision in mind, I started Michelle Noëlle Wellness and Coaching in 2020, and 1,5 year later, it was time for the next step. The Base Studio was born.