Michael Francis McBride (Johnson City, NY) began his training at the Danek School of Performing Arts and later trained at Amber Perkins School of the Arts in Norwich, New York. After graduating Johnson City High School, a Grammy Signature School, Michael moved to New York City to attend the Ailey/Fordham Bachelor of Fine Arts Program. During the summers of 2007 and 2008 Mr. McBride attended Earl Mosley’s Institute of the Arts on scholarship. In 2007 Michael was assistant to Fredrick Earl Mosley when he created Saddle UP! for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. While still in the BFA Program Mr. McBride was requested to audition by the late Denise Jefferson for the Ailey company. Michael was asked to join the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater by Judith Jamison in June of 2009 while finishing his degree at Fordham University. Mr. McBride graduated Magna Cum Laude with departmental honors in May of 2010.

In his tenure performing with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (2009-2019) Mr. McBride performed over 65 ballets, in 15 countries, on 4 continents by:

Kyle Abraham, Alvin Ailey, Aszure Barton, Robert Battle, Talley Beatty, Maurice Bejart, Mauro Bigonzetti, Ronald K. Brown, Hope Boykin, Donald Byrd, Ulysses Dove, Garth Fagan, George Faison, Rennie Harris, Geoffrey Holder, Christopher Huggins, Johan Inger, Judith Jamison, Bill T. Jones, Jiří Kylián, Jessica Lang, Lar Lubovitch, Hans van Manen, Wayne McGregor, Robert Moses, Ohad Naharin, Jamar Roberts, David Parsons, Redha, Matthew Rushing, Gustavo Ramirez Sansano, Hofesh Shechter, Paul Taylor, Twyla Tharp, and Billy Wilson.

In January 2012 Mr. McBride performed and taught as a guest artist with the JUNTOS Collective during a two week residency in Guatemala. Michael is an experienced teacher, having taught company class for Alvin Ailey as well as leading outreach masterclasses and lecture demonstrations. Having extensive training Mr. McBride is comfortable teaching an array of styles including Modern, Ballet, Jazz, Contemporary, and Basic Tap.

In 2017 Michael had the privilege to perform in Robert Battle’s Strange Humors in Dancers Responding to AIDS Hudson Valley Dance Festival. This opportunity led to Mr. McBride being a part of a new commission, Birth of the Blues, for DRA’s 2018 Fire Island Dance Festival choreographed by James Kinney.

In 2019, Michael took a leap of faith and decided to leave Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater after a decade of performing. He had his heart set on making his way to the Broadway Stage. Unfortunately, those plans were put on hold due to the COVID-19 Pandemic that halted the arts community and forced introspection from everyone around the world. Mr. McBride took the time needed, assessed his passions, and looked forward for new opportunities. In 2021 Mr. McBride performed at Santa Fe Opera in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and Chicago Lyric Opera’s “Florencia En El Amazonas”. You can also catch Michael on the final season of POSE on FX and the newest season of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel on Amazon Prime..