Melinda Songer Soderling was born in New Orleans and raised in Jasper, Alabama, where she began her dance education at age 4. While still in high school, she attended both Alabama School of the Arts and Birmingham Southern College, as well as teaching performance group classes and private lessons at Birmingham Dance Theatre. During the summers, she traveled extensively as an assistant on ‘Dance Olympus’ conventions across the country in addition to being a scholarship student at Tremaine in Los Angeles and Broadway Dance Center in New York. Melinda has won numerous awards for both dance and choreography.
Upon graduation from high school, she began her professional dance career. She has performed in many diverse and significant venues from the ‘Copa Room’ in Las Vegas to the ‘Radio City Music Hall of Fame’ in New York City. Melinda traveled extensively for four years dancing in over 30 countries; most of them as lead dancer for the Latin American pop star Chayanne. She also lived and worked in Tokyo several times; staying just over a year total. As a dancer she has performed in countless stage productions, half a dozen commercials, movies and as lead dancer in the Smashmouth video ‘Walking on the Sun’. Melinda has worked with choreographers such as Marguerite Derricks, Jerry Evans, Toni Basil, Keith Young, Michelle Assaf, Alex Magno, and many others.
In 1994 Melinda settled in Los Angeles to begin her acting studies and to work in an experimental dance company founded by Alex Magno. During this time, she auditioned for ‘Showgirls’ and was cast as Nicky. Melinda transitioned to acting shortly thereafter and has worked in over 25 movies and television shows opposite legendary artists such as Diane Keeton, Tom Hanks, Brian Denehy, Mel Gibson, Jim Carey and Goldie Hawn.
In 1999, Melinda married cinematographer Kurt Soderling and the following year they welcomed daughter Logan Laurelle. After becoming a mother, Melinda decided to focus her talent and artistic pursuits to more behind the scenes ventures and seamlessly went on to produce many industrial shows, several television pilots as well as ‘Distinctive Living Television’ where she was also the Co-Host from 2003-06. In 2004, Melinda was a producer on the award-winning film ‘Class of '83’ and in that same year gave birth to their son Luca Emond. She most recently worked as a consulting producer for ‘Painless Productions’ in their reality television department.
Melinda is currently directing and producing with her husband Kurt the documentary dance film "MOVE’; scheduled to be released in late 2010.
