The Vorse-Sales Family: A Story of Resilience, Love, and Dance

Photo Credit: Karen Presecan Photography

During life's most challenging moments, love, community, and shared passions are often what get us through the day. The Vorse-Sales family serves as a testament to this truth and acts as a symbol of resilience and love in the face of adversity.

Healing After a Significant Loss

The year 2020 was filled with profound sadness for Michelle Sales (owner of Stafford Dance Company) and her two daughters as they mourned the loss of their husband/father. While Michelle and the children were devastated after Tim Sales passed away unexpectedly, they were able to come together as a family and mentally and emotionally work through the difficult time. Also in 2020, Michelle’s business faced its own hardships due to the Covid shutdowns forcing her to hold virtual classes and a less formal recital. Over the next few years, they continued to display strength, resilience, and love for one another.

In December 2021, Michelle Sales met Tommy Vorse. Tommy is a former marine of five years, then a government contractor with DynCorp International for 19 years, where he worked in military aviation for the Navy and Marines. It was clear from the start that the pair were meant to be together.

While the Sales family was healing from their recent loss, Tommy was dealing with his own hardships, as he has retinitis pigmentosa, and now has less than 2% of vision remaining. As a result, he lost his job in June of 2022 and was forced to learn a new way of life. Through all their hardships, the couple stayed strong together and was there for one another no matter the issue.

With Tommy also having a young son, Lincoln Vorse, age 11, around the same age as Michelle's two daughters, Jordyn Sales, age 11, and Kendall Sales, age 14, it was an easy and natural blend for the two families.

By February of 2023, Tommy had proposed when the two went to Baltimore for a dance convention. Tommy had proposed at a downtown park with their kids and dance family around to witness the stunning event. Michelle documents this moment as one of her favorite memories of all time, as she had all the people closest to her there to share in the start of her happily ever after.

Stafford Dance Company

Michelle's involvement with dance started when she was a young girl. She was a dancer for as long as she can remember, and it was a significant part of her life growing up. As a professional dancer who graduated from George Mason University with a BA in dance, the next natural step was to become a dance instructor. In 2010, she was a dance instructor at Stafford Dance Center and taught dance classes ranging from beginner to advanced in various styles. This is a local dance studio in Stafford, Virginia that offers dance classes such as acro, ballet, contemporary, and Jazz for students from 2 years old to adults.      

In 2016, Michelle had the opportunity to live out her dreams of owning her own dance studio when the previous owner needed to step down. Since then, Michelle has successfully run the studio, rebranding the business as Stafford Dance Company. After spending 7 years at the studio, the dance students and parents have now become a family. Michelle’s greatest pleasure is now running the dance studio, sharing her passion for dance with the other dancers, and watching them grow over the years.

The Blended Family 

Not only is Michelle heavily invested in the Stafford Dance Company, but her two girls, Jordyn and Kendall, are also dancers at the studio. Jordyn and Kendall take after Michelle, as they are naturally and freakishly flexible and have a love for competitive dance! The two girls have been dancing ever since they were just two years old. As a dance family, they spend many weekends traveling for dance competitions and at practice.

While dance is a significant part of Jordyn and Kendall's lives, they also perform very well in school. Kendall has recently made the STAT engineering program and dance team at North Stafford for the Fall, and Jordyn will be starting middle school at Drew. She also loves all animals and finds them incredibly cute!

Tommy's son, Lincoln Vorse, is also an athlete who is highly involved in the community. Lincoln is a wrestler at Drew, has played baseball through SBL for 6 years, and has done Tae Kwon Do for 6 years. He is a lover of all sports, and his hobbies include hunting as he is part of the National Wild Turkey Federation. He will be going into the 7th grade at Drew, and he earned all A’s on his report card during the 6th grade. Michelle and Tommy are both incredibly proud of their blended family.     

The blended family of five may already seem quite big, but it is actually a family of 8, including their furry family members! With a dog named Sage, and two cats named Buddy and Enzo, life is never boring at the Vorse-Sales family home.

The Stafford Community

When it comes to living in Stafford, the Vorse-Sales family has been grateful to be living in such a friendly and welcoming community, Carriage Hill at Falls Run. Everyone in the neighborhood has been so kind and gracious. Michelle and Tommy love taking their dog, Sage for a walk and simply enjoying the fresh air and exploring the neighborhood. They also loved that the neighborhood brought a bunch of food trucks to the area on the last day of school for all the children and families to enjoy. The food was delicious, and affordable, and having the food trucks there made the day memorable for everyone.

Michelle and Tommy also love to travel together. As of yet, they have only had the opportunity to go as far as Northwest Pennsylvania to visit Tommy's family. However, they look forward to doing much more traveling together in the future. In their free time, the couple also enjoys hiking, exploring nature, and visiting Christmas tree farms during the holidays.

In the Dance of Life, Love Takes the Lead

Life often presents us with challenges that test our grit and our ability to rise again. The Vorse-Sales family has faced more than their fair share of such challenges, but their love for each other lies at the heart of their journey. With the strength of their blended family and the support of the Stafford community, they've transformed pain into purpose, loss into love, and adversity into art.

For more information about Stafford Dance Company please visit stafforddance.com.