Marie Spaabæk Mortensen
  • Home
  • Biography
  • Yoga
    • Kripalu Yoga
    • Trauma Sensitive Yoga
    • Meditation
  • Classes and Events
  • Contact

About me

I was born in Denmark, and started taking dance classes as a child. Deciding to pursue a career in dance, I completed the Dance Program at Heleneholm’s High School in Malmö, Sweden. While in high school, I attended summer intensives at the Ballet Academy in Stockholm and The Martha Graham School in New York City. Directly following high school I continued my training at Danceworks Berlin in Germany. During my time in Berlin I performed at various venues in the city, as well as in Istanbul, Turkey. After graduation from Danceworks, I moved to Oslo, Norway. During this time, I performed and presented my own choreography in Vegger and Bra Damer.

In 2012 I moved to the United States, to earn my Masters of Fine Arts in Dance at the University of Iowa, and as an appointed Teaching Assistant I taught Body Conditioning, Modern Dance, and Kinesiology in the Department of Dance. During my graduate studies I performed in works by several choreographers at Space Place Theatre in Iowa City. My MFA Thesis titled Being in Motion was an investigation into movement as a form of meditation, and I collaborated with Music Professor Jeffrey Agrell and his improvisation students, and Israeli-American choreographer Shi Pratt.  

As a long time yoga practitioner I experienced first-hand the deeply healing and empowering effects of yoga, and in 2013 I received the MFA Summer Research Fellowship, with support from the University of Iowa Graduate College Strategic Initiative Fund, to deepen my studies of yoga at the
Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health. This allowed me, not only to deepen my own practice, but to gain the tools to pass on the wisdom of yoga and mindfulness to others. I am now a  500-hour Certified Kripalu Yoga Teacher registered with Yoga Alliance. I also completed 40 hours of training in Trauma Sensitive Yoga with David Emerson and Jen Turner from the Trauma Center in Massachusetts. Since 2014 I have been teaching yoga in a variety of settings throughout the Midwest, including
 at The University of Iowa, Plains Area Mental Health Center, Horn Memorial Hospital, St. Anthony Regional Hospital, Turning Point Crisis Home, {Be} Yoga Studio, The University of South Dakota Football team, at Sanford Wellness Center, and Sanford's Mutch Women's Center for Health Enrichment.


Picture
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Home
  • Biography
  • Yoga
    • Kripalu Yoga
    • Trauma Sensitive Yoga
    • Meditation
  • Classes and Events
  • Contact