Engel, Michael R. 69, of Minneapolis and St. Paul, passed away suddenly of natural causes in his home on May 19, 2022. A Celebration of Life will be held Sunday, July 24 at 6pm at Four Seasons Dance Studio, 1637 Hennepin Ave, Minneapolis. Michael was born in Slaton, Texas, the second child of newly ordained minister Austin (Jim) Engel and Mary (Roessel) Engel who met at Macalester College and married in 1950. After Texas, Michael moved with his parents to attend day care at Yale while his father was in Yale Divinity School. After Yale, the Engels moved to western North Dakota where Jim ministered at Fort Berthold Reservation. Michael grew up with four active brothers. The Missouri River and and the sage-brush prairies were places where space was a constant. It was where his kinetic memory flourished. Somewhere, back there, and in the woods near Ely, Michael discovered his love of the North Woods and his muse, Terpischore. Later, after attending Carleton College, volunteering with Vista, and hitchhiking across the land, Michael enrolled in Experimental College at the University of Minnesota and found his place in the Minneapolis dance community. He stumbled into formal dance training in 1974, mostly to be less shy around women, and for the next several decades danced for local companies including Instructional Dance Theatre, Contemporary Concert Dancers, New Dance Ensemble, New Dance Lab, and Ansley/Engel Dance. He choreographed and performed at venues including the Guthrie Theatre, Walker Art Center, Ordway Music Theatre and Jacob's Pillow and earned fellowships from the Minnesota State Arts Board, McKnight Foundation, Jerome Foundation and more. He was a Dance Artist in Residence for MSAB and taught dance to thousands of students in Minnesota and North Dakota. In 1994, he joined the Minneapolis Public Schools as a Dance, Theatre, and Video Production teacher. Michael saw his childhood as his strength, knew that life was a poetic journey, and considered his three sons and daughter to be his greatest teachers. He wrote, "I am a hard worker, yet inconsistent; I've learned that change, like the wind, is a constant." Michael is survived by children Sam Engel and Trevor Axner (Rebecca) of Minneapolis; Miles Engel of Los Alamos; Liv Engel, soon to attend grad school in Toronto; grandchildren Kyra, Zoey, Gus and Ellis; former wives Wendy Ansley and Sybil Axner; and brothers Steve Engel of Babbitt and Paul Engel of Wisconsin. He was preceded in death by his parents Mary and Jim, and his brothers David and Peter. He will be greatly missed by all who knew his gentle soul.

Published on July 10, 2022