Stephanie Ellison is an anthropologist, movement researcher, and long-time Pilates and dance teacher. Her work integrates movement practices to explore the role of the body in connection, collaboration, and wellbeing across social contexts such as education, healthcare, environmental projects, and community settings.
She holds a BA in Communications from Illinois State University, specializing in Japanese and Political Science, and an MA in Dance Anthropology from Choreomundus, an Erasmus consortium focusing on dance and movement as intangible cultural heritage. Her professional path includes on-air broadcasting at NPR in Illinois to restaurant and food public relations in San Francisco and Los Angeles, alongside a wide range of artistic projects. For more than 25 years, she has also taught dance, Pilates, and movement worldwide—from Winsor Pilates in West Hollywood and her own studio in a circus school, to courses at Washington University in St. Louis, Rhinebeck Pilates in New York, and workshops throughout Asia, the US, and Europe. This eclectic background frames her interdisciplinary perspective and investigations into how embodied and sensory rhythms influence human relationality and communication.
Stephanie’s research includes fieldwork on contemporary ritual connecting communities with local water and land in Southern England. She also participated in the early stage of ‘DanceBrainRehab’ in Helsinki, an EU dance initiative equipping professionals to support neuro-fragile groups through neuroscience-informed artistic dance. Having completed a visiting grant in 2024, Stephanie is an affiliated researcher with the Interacting Minds Centre at Aarhus University.
Art projects TheRustedWrench.com