Middlebrook Arts Research + Residency Center

Middlebrook Arts Research + Residency Center Serving the Jefferson and additional communities through wellness, performance, and education. Email us at [email protected] for inquiries!

09/21/2026

A look back at the DanceAction Garden Series! 🌿

BodyStories was so happy to be part of this evening of live performance, improvisation, and spontaneous composition.

A special congratulations again to Ritsuko and Timyra, two of our 2026 Summer Intensive participants, who joined onstage for this performance.

Thank you to and everyone who made the garden come alive with inspiring performances. 💜

Happy belated anniversary to Teresa and Orin! 💜15 years married, together since 2007. 🥂This photo represents true love a...
09/17/2026

Happy belated anniversary to Teresa and Orin! 💜

15 years married, together since 2007. 🥂

This photo represents true love and support after a really busy period with the semester starting, additional apartment surprises and an ER visit (don't worry, everything is fine!).

It's been an exhausting but wonderful couple of weeks. Teresa needed a beach day, and Orin stepped up and planned a New Jersey beach adventure for the two of them! 🌊

Sleeping, playing, and birdwatching on the beach was exactly what they needed to rejuvenate and recharge.

Going on adventures is part of what makes them who they are, and Teresa is so grateful to have found her person and to have shared so many years together.

This picture captures them feeling full, refreshed, and ready to dive back into fall—recharged and ready to keep offering each other what they need. ❤❤

Congratulations, Ritsuko & Timyra! 🎉We’re so proud of Ritsuko and Timyra, two dancers who joined us for the BodyStories ...
09/15/2026

Congratulations, Ritsuko & Timyra! 🎉

We’re so proud of Ritsuko and Timyra, two dancers who joined us for the BodyStories Summer Intensive this year and recently had the opportunity to perform with us as part of the DanceAction Garden Series.

One of the things we love most about our summer intensives is being able to stay connected with our participants beyond the studio. Whenever possible, we’re excited to create opportunities for Summer Intensive participants to continue dancing, performing, and working alongside BodyStories.

With such a short rehearsal period, Ritsuko and Timyra stepped into the work with so much focus, adaptability, and generosity. They did an incredible job, and we couldn’t be more proud of how they showed up for this performance! Another big thank you to Carmen and DanceAction for putting together an amazing show we always love to be a part of.

We’re so happy to have these dancers as part of the BodyStories community. Stay tuned for footage of their amazing performance! 💜

09/11/2026

As we continue to look back through BodyStories’ repertory in celebration of our 15th Anniversary Benefit Concert, we return to works that have asked difficult questions, opened spaces for connection, and reminded us of the power held within our bodies and our stories.

Inside/Out emerged in 2022 in response to a growing climate of violence and control surrounding gender, sexual orientation, identity, and bodily autonomy. Created by Artistic Director Teresa Fellion, with two sections by collaborator Eddie Stockton, the work explores the deeply personal and complex journeys of navigating societal trauma, and the ways our identities can be both wounded and transformed by it.

Moving between calm and chaos, Inside/Out traces pathways toward healing, ultimately arriving at a place of breath, power, and vitality. It is a work that affirms womxn, individuals with a uterus, and LGBTQIAP+ communities while celebrating the resilience and agency of the self.

Featuring dancers Leann Gioia, Eddie Stockton, Teresa Fellion, and Arianna Stendardo, Inside/Out remains a powerful reminder that our bodies can carry trauma, but they can also carry resistance, transformation, connection, and joy.

We are honored to bring this work back as part of our 15th Anniversary celebration and to reflect on the many stories that have shaped BodyStories along the way.

Stay tuned for more details to join us in celebrating 15 years of BodyStories!
Because every body has a story. And every story matters. 💜

We are thrilled to announce BodyStories' 15th Anniversary immersive dance benefit at Brooklyn Art Haus! Experience an ev...
09/10/2026

We are thrilled to announce BodyStories' 15th Anniversary immersive dance benefit at Brooklyn Art Haus! Experience an evening of a retrospective repertory performance and a VIP reception featuring special videos, silent auction, refreshments, presentations, and more!

📅 Thursday, December 3, 2026
VIP Reception: 6:00 PM
Performance: 7:00 PM
Public Reception: 8:30 PM

📅 Sunday, December 6, 2026
Performance: 7:00 PM
Doors: 6:45 PM

📍 Brooklyn Art Haus
24 Marcy Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11211
Come celebrate 15 years of BodyStories with us!

Thank you to all who have supported us for the past 15 years. Your support has made so many performances, educational experiences, and milestones possible. Save the date to continue to be part of the story! 💫

As doing the NYSCI project gives an opportunity to look back at the early days, it's fun to see how many of the things T...
09/08/2026

As doing the NYSCI project gives an opportunity to look back at the early days, it's fun to see how many of the things Teresa has loved throughout their life still show up in their work today. 💃

Teresa grew up living in jazz runs, grapevines, learning choreography from Solid Gold Dancers, and Dirty Dancing! Before joining a regional ballet company and being exposed to modern dance, it was all about Tap + Jazz! Those Dr. Scholl's sandals over the yellow tights were before the tap shoes came on at the theater of course, lol.

These were some of the earliest dance languages Teresa learned; bringing rhythm, musicality, energy, and a whole lot of play into how they moved.

Teresa even choreographed their first solo to “(I've Had) The Time of My Life” in 6th grade! They are forever grateful to Lynn in Marston's Mills, who in an old Quaker Meetinghouse with folding chairs for barres, let her students thrive in their creativity, improvise and show + tell their made up dances each week!

Looking back, tap and jazz gave Teresa an early love of musicality and the fun of figuring out how movement and music could work together. Special shout out to Margilyn Valle, who allowed Teresa to teach Jazz classes at Cape Ballet when they were 16 and 17 years old. It was so inspiring for them, making up combinations each week, and being able to share the love of Jazz dance with teens from the high school and children in the community!

Those ideas have stayed with them, even as their movement vocabulary has continued to grow.

What kind of music makes you want to move?

As we look ahead to BodyStories: Teresa Fellion Dance’s 15-year anniversary, we’re revisiting works from our history tha...
09/04/2026

As we look ahead to BodyStories: Teresa Fellion Dance’s 15-year anniversary, we’re revisiting works from our history that we'll be bringing back to the stage, beginning with HOME.

HOME draws upon ritualistic process to elucidate one’s search for home via encounters, communication, and understanding of oneself and others. Through movement ranging between off-centered to centered, syncopated to calm, the audience follows this stormy, yet intriguing journey that many undertake in creating a home for themselves.

The dancers in this work move between isolation and connection, chaos and calm, individuality and community, gradually building toward a shared sense of common ground. Through sculptural, weighted, and sometimes apocalyptic moments, HOME traces the complicated process of finding, and creating, a place to belong.

Some highlights of HOME:

HOME premiered at Gibney Dance Center’s Agnes Varis Performing Arts Center in June 2016, following previews at Hudson River Valley Museum and GK Arts Center.

Teresa also collaborated with Robert Gould on the set design, Tim Cryan on Lighting Design, Nina Katan on Costume Design, and John Yannelli, who created the original score, which was played live by John Yannelli, Emily Cardwell, and Dominic Boyle.

Nearly a decade later, HOME will return to the stage as part of our 15th Anniversary Benefit this December. We’re excited to revisit this work, reconnect with its history, and see what new life emerges from it today.

Follow along as we share and reflect on more of BodyStories ' repertoire and programs that have made an impact, and stay tuned for more anniversary details coming soon. ✨

Photo credits: Jaqi Medlock, Yi Chun Wu, Stephen Delas Heraas

We’re excited to announce the launch of Danse Mirage, a new 12-week contemporary dance and creative storytelling program...
09/04/2026

We’re excited to announce the launch of Danse Mirage, a new 12-week contemporary dance and creative storytelling program created by BodyStories: Teresa Fellion Dance, made possible by the Danse Mirage Education Grant!

This fall, we’re bringing the program to Marble Hill High School for International Studies, where students will explore contemporary dance, improvisation, storytelling, music, and creative movement with BodyStories teaching artists.

Rather than focusing on learning set choreography, BodyStories' program through Danse Mirage invites students to create their own movement and explore how the body can communicate ideas, emotions, memories, and experiences. Through movement, writing, discussion, visual prompts, and collaboration, students will develop an original collective dance work over the course of the residency.
We’re especially excited that the program is designed to welcome students with a range of dance experience, from those who are new to dance to those with years of training, and to create space for different perspectives, bodies, and creative approaches.

The residency will culminate in a community performance and informal showing at Marble Hill, giving students the opportunity to share the work they created with their school community, families, and friends.

We’re grateful for the support of the Danse Mirage Education Grant, which makes this opportunity possible, and we’re looking forward to seeing what the students create with BodyStories! 👯

BodyStories and Danse Mirage
September 22 – December 11
Thursdays, 3:10–4:10 PM
Marble Hill High School for International Studies

As we keep looking back at early days, it's fun to see how many of the things Teresa has loved throughout their life are...
09/01/2026

As we keep looking back at early days, it's fun to see how many of the things Teresa has loved throughout their life are coming together in this 2026 NYSCI project.

Every artist has a beginning, and for Teresa, one of theirs was on the dance floor with their dad. 💜

He used to compete in jitterbug competitions when he was younger, and Teresa grew up dancing jitterbug with him.

Long before BodyStories, before choreography, there was just the two of them moving together and having fun, doing "contact-improv" and flipping around!!

You could say Teresa's first dance lessons didn't happen in a studio. They happened at home, one step at a time, passed down from their dad.

And maybe that's where it all started. 💃🕺

Who was your first dance partner?

Address

New York, NY

Website

, ,

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Middlebrook Arts Research + Residency Center posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

Share

Category