Michael Novak is a dancer born and raised in Illinois. In 2018, he became the Paul Taylor Dance Company’s second Artistic Director after having danced for the company for 9 years. Previously, he also danced with Gibney Dance and the Daniel Gwirtzman Dance Company, studied at Springboard Danse Montreal, and has performed works by Bill T. Jones, Vaslav Nijinski and Stephen Petronio. In this conversation, Michael talks about his creative background, how dance and drama became languages for him, and his path to where he is today as artistic director of a renowned company. He also speaks about his own creative calling with his work, as well as how he believes in dance as a way of supporting cultural healing, now, during a pandemic, and moving forward into a more connected, globalized future.