1987
Ann Slen
E-Mail: annslen@aol.com
I am the owner and director of a local dance studio — the same one where I grew up! We have over 200 students and have been in business for almost 50 years. I am daily reminded of the knowledge gained at St. Olaf and the connections I made there. (Update: April, 2019)
1985
Karen Schuldt Darling
E-Mail: karen.darling@doj.ca.gov
I have been practicing law since 1990 and am presently a Deputy Attorney General with the State of CA. I am married with two children; Christine 4 and Jack 3. I regularly take Ballet classes and participate in performances with dance studios in Los Angeles. (Update: September, 2003)
1984
Mary Abrams
E-Mail: mary@movingbodyresources.com // Website: www.movingbodyresources.com
Mary Abrams, MA, RSME loves moving, learning, and being in business. Since 1984 she has professionally explored her passions as a dancer/choreographer and somatic movement teacher. Mary offers dynamic, detailed attention to breath, sensation, emotions, expression, and creative process. With curiosity and enjoyment, Mary supports groups and individuals in environments that enhance creativity, healing, and transformation through body-self-awareness and movement explorations. As founder/director of Moving Body Resources she provides a physical space for this work.
She began teaching somatic movement in 1996, offering Continuum classes from 1996-2014. She continues to develop her unique expression of transformational movement classes leading groups across the USA and internationally. From 2009-2017 she held a leadership role on the USA section of the MA Dance & Somatic Well-being: Connections to the Living Body, a masters degree programme from the University of Central Lancashire, Preston, England. She continues to teach on the MA programme on the UK campus.
Her teacher includes work includes: being a module instructor on the Continuum Teacher Training at the Somatic Academy of Berlin, Germany; and mentoring people interested in becoming Somatic Movement Educators and/ or Continuum Teachers.
Mary is a Registered Somatic Movement Educator (RSME) with the International Somatic Movement Education and Therapy Association (ISMETA), and she holds a masters degree from Goddard College in Consciousness Studies, with a focus on embodied movement practice and theory. She apprenticed in Continuum Movement with its founder Emilie Conrad from 1994-2014 and was among the first group of people Emilie Conrad and Susan Harper Authorized as Continuum Movement Teachers in 1999. She continues to dialogue with Susan Harper (Continuum Montage), and explore human being theory (Affect-script theory) and Epistemics, with Emilie’s long-time collaborator, Gary David, PhD.
From 2002-2011 she served on the Board of Directors of the International Somatic Movement Education & Therapy Association (ISMETA), as board president from 2005-2009. She continues working for ISMETA as their Government Relations Consultant to the Federation of Therapeutic Massage, Bodywork, and Somatic Practice Organizations. Mary also served as Co-Chair on the Board of Directors of the Silvan S. Tomkins Institute (SSTI) from 2013-2016 (www.tomkins.org).
From 1993-2002 Mary served on the Board of Directors of Danspace Project at St. Mark’s Church (NYC), and from 1985-1987 on the Board of Directors of the Minnesota Dance Alliance (Minneapolis, MN).
From 1981-1997 Mary choreographed and taught dance in Minnesota, Iowa, India, and New York receiving grant support. She holds a B.A. in Dance with Distinction from St. Olaf College, formally studied dance for over 30 years, and still performs occasionally in New York City and other places.
Mary has also published writing in several journals—somatics, dance, spiritualities, psychology, and alternative wellness; and her images, artwork, and other contributions can be found in books published by Amanda Williamson, PhD. (Update: April, 2019)
Anne Garrett
E-Mail: anne@msagf.org
Currently the Executive Director of the Microsoft Alumni Foundation, remarried, and four sons: 23, 18, 12 and 9. Life is good. (Update: January, 2009)
Carol Stoutland
E-Mail: sunflowergreens@yahoo.com
Carol currently lives in Tigard, OR (a southern suburb of Portland). A year ago she returned from Thailand where she taught English for 2-1/2 years, she plans to start taking dance classes again this summer or fall. Her immediate focus is to get her chiropractic career going again. (Update: April, 2019)
1982
Janet L. Hein
Enjoying a Big Ten college town as Director of Admissions at Indiana University Maurer School of Law as of July 2013. Bloomington, IN has a vibrant arts scene, with a huge variety of dance, theater, music, and cultures. I still love working with students and seeing them succeed in their chosen field. I use my performance experience all the time when instilling the importance of an education to individuals and groups. I enjoy bicycling and aerobics, but am excited to get back to a few dance classes as I learn the opportunities available here at IU. (Update: April, 2019)
1981
Susan Schneider Adams
E-Mail: schnadams@yahoo.com
I just choreographed a dance for high school students in a UCC church in Windsor, Wisconsin. I’m the Associate Conference Minister for Youth and Young Adult Ministries in the Wisconsin Conference, UCC. I am also the Interim Associate Pastor at Orchard Ridge United Church of Christ in Madison, Wisconsin. I continue to choreograph liturgical dance, perform, and lead workshops and retreats in the area of Liturgical dance. (Update: Spring, 2003)