Maria Gillespie

Maria Gillespie is a Professor in the Dance Department at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Graduate Program Representative for Dance Education. She holds an MFA in Choreography from UCLA and a BFA in Dance from SUNY Purchase. Her work focuses on choreographic research blending auto-ethnographic performance, somatics, feminist practice, and interdisciplinary collaboration. Gillespie directs MG/The Collaboratory and Hyperlocal MKE, emphasizing community-driven, improvised performance and embodied storytelling.

Her research explores dance as a liberation practice, rewriting narratives through movement and new media. Notable collaborations include projects with artists like Nguyễn Nguyên and Kevin Williamson, as well as performances with Present Music and Renaissance Theaterworks. Gillespie’s teaching spans somatics, Pilates-based conditioning, and contemporary modern technique, with past roles at UCLA and CalArts.

Recipient of the 2019 Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award and a 2024-25 ARC Grant, she has also been honored with four Lester Horton Awards. Her work bridges performance art, activism, and education, including the community project Parts of the Whole-The Body Is Home, engaging youth impacted by carceral systems.