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Michael W. Diven
cwdance@localnet.com


“A Dancer’s Biography”
 


Michael Diven started dancing 20 years ago and he hasn’t stopped since.

What began as a hobby has mushroomed into a life style and a reputable business. This 38 year
old from Mifflintown, PA is a country line dance instructor at the Winner’s Circle Saloon in
Grantville, Pennsylvania and an award winning choreographer with a number of 1st place trophies to his credit.

Over the course of his dancing career, he has hosted various dance events and held numerous country dance lessons throughout the Central Pennsylvania region. In 1993 he entered his first dance competition in Gatlinburg, TN (Great Smokey Mountain Line Dance Festival) where he took first place in the couples division and 2nd in the line dance competition.

One of his earlier dances, “The Dizzy Cowpoke” was released within 2 years of his first competition and has become a huge hit in the UK as well as all over the world.  Since his early beginnings, Mike has choreographed a number of dances including “Binghamton Boogie”, “Holy Cha”, “Atlantis”, “Love Revival”, “A Shot of Whiskey”, “A Little Bit More”, “Bankin’ Beer”, “Somebody’s Somebody”, “Fairy Tales”, “The Blitz”, “Terrace Terror”, “Romeo Stroll” “Holy Cha” and many more.

He has 1st place awards in choreography for dances titled “One Hot Mama”, “Nothin’ 2 Lose” and “Shut Up and Dance”. His dance “Trough Creek Affair” is winner of two first place awards. With his love for dancing, he returned home from the 2004 JG2 Line Dance Marathon in June and quickly choreographed one of his hottest dances “Cowboy Ridin’”, a phrased line dance done to Big & Rich’s “Save A Horse, Ride A Cowboy” which won second place in the choreography competition at the JG2 Line Dance Marathon in 2005.

Throughout his career, Mike has hosted dances to raise money for the American Cancer Society and the local Relay for Life team, as well as volunteer his time and talents to local children’s organizations, giving back to the community wherever he can.

Dancing is what he does and he does it with flair. Country, Latin, or Rock and Roll: he’s committed to memory thousands of steps in hundreds of different dances, all presented with a style distinctively Diven. If a new recording hits the airwaves, you can bet that Mike is already dancing it in his head, choreographing as he goes, finding just the right sequence of steps for every beat of the music, soon to be committed to paper and then transferred to the dance floor.

One of his trademarks is his resolve to choreograph a dance to commemorate each of the special events and memorable places in his busy life. The award winning “Trough Creek Affair (T.C.A.)” was such a dance, which was choreographed after a weekend spent at Trough Creek State Park with a group of friends. It went on to win a first place at the Eastern Dance Classic in Alexandria, Virginia as well as first place in Raleigh, NC at the JG2 Line Dance Marathon in June 2005.

Mike’s future doesn’t appear to be slowing down any time soon. He has taught country
dancing to Special Olympic athletes at the PA State Games and has performed in a number of local talent shows, demonstrating what country dancing is all about. He has traveled to
Switzerland where he spent two weeks teaching his own choreography as well as participating in workshops with Guyton Mundy, Barbara Prosen and various other country dance venues.

He has choreographed dance routines for a local high school musical, “Little Shop of Horrors” in 2005 and is looking forward to the challenges that lie ahead, as well as planning a country western cruise scheduled for Summer of 2006.

In August of 2005, he and 14 other dancers traveled to Connecticut to participate in a Country Dance Weekend teaching dances and participating in a country dance demonstration for a large audience of vacationers. In November 2005, he taught at the “18th Annual Country Western British Championships” in England.

Mike has danced, both as a performer and as a choreographer in numerous competitions in the United States, from Texas to the Carolinas. He has been involved in “Dance for the Dream”, which is a National line dance workshop program sponsored by recording artist, Scooter Lee to raise money for research into the cause and prevention of Alzheimer’s Disease.

In September of 2004, he had taken his talents internationally to Switzerland, where he has presented his own original choreography and style of instruction to a group of dancers and instructors from that country as well as the surrounding areas.

His dances have been downloaded from the internet and are currently being danced around the world. Between weddings and teaching at a dance club, Mike continues to find time doing what he loves…….dancing.

He has volunteered many hours helping couples learn some of the more popular dances, by spending one-on-one time with both partners. He realizes a lot of men don’t want to learn dances in front of a crowd, and is willing to work individually with couples. Regardless of where he travels, Mike is always out on the dance floor and hardly ever spends time resting in between dances. “I hate to waste any good music,” he says.

So from the first note of the first song, to the last note of the last song, Mike will be out on the floor doing what he does. You probably have already seen him out on the dance floor. Wearing his cowboy hat and boots, this choreographer loves to spin. The dancers from Switzerland have referred to him as the “American Energizer Bunny”.

Exciting achievements for what began as just a hobby. But Mike hasn’t lost touch with why he started down this path many years ago. He might be dancing in competition in front of thousands of people one day and patiently teaching an 8 year old the steps to the Canadian Stomp the next day at the Winner’s Circle Saloon.

The achievement, the success, the semi-celebrity status, it’s all good, but first and foremost is the dance. He makes a living at it, but he doesn’t dance to live, he lives to dance. It’s what he does, it’s who he is.

His name is Mike Diven….and he’s a dancer. If you are ever in the Central Pennsylvania area and are looking for somewhere to go dancing, give Mike a call. There is always room on our dance floor for one more.