Biography

Meredith Stapleton, MFA recipient in Dance/Choreography from the University of Iowa, is a Philadelphia-based dance artist, yoga teacher, birth doula and childbirth educator pending certification from Birth Arts International.

She found her way to birth work through intensive research during her own pregnancy, which beautifully expanded upon her background in dance and women’s studies. Meredith has since cultivated a rich understanding of the potential for empowering the moving body through labor, and a deep appreciation for the unique relationships birth work allows her to develop with client families.

Meredith currently teaches yoga at Temple University, and has taught in dance at Muhlenberg College, Swarthmore College, and The University of Iowa. Meredith is an Artist In Residence at Mascher Space Cooperative where she maintains a dance practice. She is currently collaborating with Emie Hughes and The Naked Stark.

Meredith grew up in Harvard, MA training at Acton School of Ballet and performing with Commonwealth Ballet Company. In 2013, she graduated from Muhlenberg College as a Dance major and Women's Studies minor. In Spring 2012, Meredith studied in Arezzo, Italy at Accademia dell’Arte. She has attended many summer workshops, including Burklyn Ballet Theater, Alonzo King Lines School of Ballet, the Boston Conservatory, on scholarship with Summer Stages at Concord Academy, and Doug Varone & Dancers. Meredith has performed works by Corrie Cowart, Trinette Singleton, Meredith Rainey, Sean Curran, Teresa Fellion, The Bang Group, Heidi Cruz-Austin, Charlotte Boye-Christensen, Monica Bill Barnes, Melinda Myers, Armando Duarte, Shannon Alvis, and Jeffrey Peterson. Meredith has been a company member of DanceSpora, Nora Gibson Contemporary Ballet, Megan Flynn Dance Company, and The Naked Stark, and has collaborated with many independent artists and collectives in Philadelphia. She has presented her choreography across the northeast in various festivals, co-produced two Philadelphia Fringe shows, and “2 by 2” at The Iron Factory. In addition to higher ed courses, Meredith has taught at the Philadelphia Dance Academy, Koresh School of Dance and Koresh Kids Dance, Happy Feet Dance Studio, Haddonfield School of Dance, PlayArts, and Concord Academy.

While in graduate school at The University of Iowa, Meredith completed her 200-hour yoga teaching training through a partnership with The Yoga Connection of Tucson, AZ. Her yoga teaching blends the somatic and ritualistic practices of yoga with her professional dance background, offering students an expressive relationship to movement on and off the mat. Meredith’s higher ed yoga course focuses on cultural appropriation and the commodification of yoga through a close study of yoga’s ethical principles.