Melissa Hinchman

Originally from the Dayton area, Melissa began her pre-professional training at Terre's Dance Workshop where she was a member of the Miami Valley Dance Company and Terre's Dance Team.  Melissa attended The Ohio State University, where she graduated Magna Cum Laude earning her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance, with a concentration on dance education and performance.  During her time at OSU, she developed a greater passion and appreciation for choreography and creating movement.  Her senior project, “A Crowd is Not Company,” was featured in the senior concert and selected to be a part of the OSU Dance Department’s Spring Concert.  Melissa’s past performance credits include; ensemble dancer in Cedar Fair Kings Island's 2008 live shows, Flashback Totally 80s and Hot Island Rhythms, company member of SMAG Dance Collective, and principal dancer with Seven Dance Company.  She choreographed and performed in numerous Seven productions including, Song of the Stars and Oceans.  She has had the privilege to work with choreographers such as Rachel Gogolin, Renee Smith, Joyelle Fobbs, Meghan Durham-Wall, Susan Van Pelt Petry, Shawn Hove, Debbie Blunden Diggs, and Patricia Rozow.  Melissa served as a summer dance camp instructor for AmeriDance from 2009-2012 and has been on the artistic faculty at Columbus DanceArts Academy since 2011.

​Melissa founded Cultivate Dance Project in fall of 2018 as a creative outlet for adult dancers in the Columbus, Ohio community.  Since its formation, the work she has set on Cultivate Dance Project has been a part of local productions including Columbus DanceArts Academy’s DanceScope, Columbus Dance Alliance WORKS 2, Cleveland Dance Festival, Ten Tiny Dances Columbus, City Dance Showcase III and IV, and the Columbus Arts Festival.  Her collaborative film Memory Is A Monster has been a part of both Constructed Sight Dance Film Festival 2022 and Cleveland Dance Fest Virtual Film Gallery 2022.