Biographie
Melinda Songer Soderling was born in New Orleans and grew up in Jasper, Alabama, where she started her dance training at age 4. While still in high school, she studied at both the Alabama School of the Arts and Birmingham Southern College, and taught performance group classes and private lessons at Birmingham Dance Theatre. During summers, she traveled extensively as an assistant for 'Dance Olympus' conventions nationwide and was a scholarship student at Tremaine in Los Angeles and Broadway Dance Center in New York. Melinda has earned numerous awards for dance and choreography and has served as a guest teacher at Broadway Dance Center Tokyo and Backstage Dance Studio in Las Vegas.
Encouraged by several mentors, Melinda chose to pursue a professional dance career after high school graduation. She spent many years performing worldwide, living out of a suitcase in more than 30 countries. Her dance experience ranges from Radio City Music Hall to the Copa Room, and she toured with Latin superstar Chayanne. She assisted Alex Magno in creating a show for JFoxx Tokyo, where she then served as director and lead dancer for nearly a year. Throughout her career, she collaborated with renowned figures such as Marguerite Pomerhn Derricks, Jerry Evans, Toni Basil, Peggy Holmes, Michael Darrin, Michele Assaf, and others.
In 1994, Melinda returned to Los Angeles to pursue acting alongside dance. As an actress, she has appeared in numerous plays including 'Speed the Plow,' 'Crimes of the Heart,' and 'Miss Firecracker.' Her favorite dance projects include What Women Want (2000), Man on the Moon (1999), and Showgirls (1995). As an actress, she has over 20 film and television credits, performing opposite stars like Brian Dennehy, Jason Priestley, Goldie Hawn, Garry Shandling, Pamela Anderson, and Warren Beatty.
In 1999, Melinda married cinematographer Kurt E. Soderling, and the following year they welcomed their daughter, Logan Laurelle. After becoming a mother, Melinda shifted her focus to behind-the-scenes work, producing numerous industrial shows, several television pilots, and co-hosting 'Distinctive Living Television' from 2003 to 2006. In 2004, she produced the award-winning film Class of '83 and gave birth to their son, Luca Emond. More recently, she worked as a consulting producer for 'Painless Productions' in their reality television division.
She co-produced the "Aviation Expo 2002" through their production company, Soderling Productions, as well as several television pilots. Their 2004 documentary, Class of '83, won juror and audience awards at international film festivals. Additionally, she served as a consulting producer for a dance show in development with Painless Productions' reality television department.
