Artcore Presents: Robert Michaels & Melanie Buttarazzi at Natrona County High School

Multi gold and platinum recording artist, Robert Michaels, has won the esteem of critics worldwide. The Toronto Sun hails him, “Every inch a dazzling guitarist”, the Toronto Sun exclaims, “He is incomparable. And you simply must see him”, while the Ottawa Sun states simply, Michaels is an “Axe God”. Winner of a Juno Award (Canadian Grammy) for “Best Instrumental Album” Robert received Best Vocalist, Instrumentalist and Album nominations for his self-titled fifth album.

Michaels started his musical career in Canada, though his parents aren?t Canadian natives, but immigrated there from Italy. Michaels was raised on a varied musical diet that found him being influenced by many different kinds of musicians and styles along the way, like Jimmy Page, Carlos Santana, and Wes Montgomery, and everything from rock, to tango, to jazz.

A dancer from age 4, Melanie Buttarazzi is a Toronto native. She was on “So You Think You Can Dance Canada” as a salsa/ballroom dancer, top 18 finalist.
She has performed at the Video Music Awards with artists such as Pitbull, and Neyo, and appeared in music videos with JLO, Pharrell. She is part of the Flamenco dance company ARDE with renowned choreographer Roberto Amaral.

Melanie has appeared in film productions both as a dancer and an actress. She starred in and co-produced a short film with Golden Zebra Productions, which was selected into the 69th Cannes Film Festival. She has been seen in numerous commercials, such as Budweiser, Sony, Phillips, and Carnival Cruise Lines. She has toured the world performing and choreographing for her award-winning musician father, Robert Michaels, for over a decade.

In learning about the joy that dance spreads to others, Melanie was inspired to create an outreach dance program in Los Angeles where she recruited renowned choreographers to be a part of her team to give back. The program is called Fostering Dreams Through Dance.

Co-Sponsored by KCWY-13. Partial funding is from the Schneider and the Grace Amspoker Funds in Wyoming Community Foundation – Casper, the Wyoming Arts Council through the National Endowment for the Arts and the Wyoming State Legislature, and Natrona County School District No. 1.