Kelsey Kempner
Kelsey Kempner is a dancer, performer, researcher, activist, and Atlanta native. Kelsey is currently a Masters student at Teachers College, Columbia University in NYC where she is studying motor learning and control. At TC, Kelsey also works as a research assistant in the Neurorehabilitation Lab where she collaborates on projects dealing with physical activity and neurodegenerative diseases.Kelsey teaches creative dance as a teaching artist at Kaiser’s Room and guest teaches master classes around NYC. (See more in contact page).
She graduated Summa cum laude with research distinction from The Ohio State University, receiving both a BFA in dance and a BS in neuroscience. At OSU, Kelsey focused on performance, choreography, and dance science. Recent performance credits include dancing with Apollonia & Dancers in the 2020 performance of I See You (2020) at University Settlement in the Lower
East Side, Mishidance 10+1 Show in 2021, and Zoetic Ensemble’s Distance Disco Series (2020/2021)
Kelsey has trained with a variety of excellent artists including, Susan Hadley, Crystal Michelle Perkins, Karen Eliot, Daniel Roberts, Eddie Taketa, Lonnie Davis Jr., Cherrise Wakeham, and more. She also choreographs works including her self-choreographed thesis solo “Play!”, and dance films in collaboration with The One Love Foundation, “Malignant” and “aftermath of you.”
Growing up in Atlanta, Kelsey studied dance at Heather Wayne’s Dance Academy since the age of 3, where she found her passions for performance and composition. In Kelsey’s work, she explores themes of chaos and truth as well as the science and discovery of movement.
In addition to her pursuit of dance, Kelsey specializes in teaching dance to people with autism spectrum disorder. Kelsey’s research interests include neural and physical impact of dance, increasing proprioception, and postural sway and motor impairment in children with developmental disorders.
Kelsey Kempner 