Kathleen Stansell has been dancing since the age of three and continues to pursue her passion of dance as a teaching artist, performer, and choreographer. She teaches a variety of movement skills including gymnastics, ballet, tap, jazz, modern, and creative movement. Kathleen graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi with Honors and a Bachelor's degree in Performance and Choreography. She is currently using her performance skills with Upaya, Catey Ott Dance Collective, and her own company, Move for Change. Along with her friend and colleague, Dan Kinch, Kathleen is the Co-Artistic Director of Move for Change and the Brooklyn Culture Jammers, an artistic collective in support of Occupy Wall Street used to bring awareness to issues such as food justice and a myriad of other social issues. For Kathleen, dance comes secondary to aiding the advancement of character of both her students and her audiences.
"It is important to me to be as socially responsible as possible in my daily life so I may contribute to the happiness and peace of others. This means restraining the use of any animal products, reducing the output of wasteful materials, and doing work that is for the benefit of other people's health and well-being. Dance and acting are the creative outlets of which I am most talented and passionate about; therefore, I use those talents as a gentle approach to communicating issues surrounding food waste, the monopolization of food products, excess, and human rights. I move for change." -Kathleen Stansell