LISA NEWCOMB
Founder & Owner
Lisa Teaches dance and yoga to children and adults. Her main focus has been African & Caribbean dance and she has traveled in the states, Brazil and West Africa to study and dance. She brings these forms of dance to her offerings with both children and adults. Lisa also teaches dance and movement in public and private schools throughout Maine. Lisa is the original founder and owner of The Belfast Dance Studio.
SHANA BLOOMSTEIN PTA, LMT, CYI
Director/Manager
Shana has a dream she would like to make tangible with your support! She would like to create a truly inclusive space for every being in our community. If you would like to join her vision committee to fundraise and write grants for accessibility here at The Belfast Dance studio & Center for Embodiment, please reach out at 207-323-8499 or info@belfastdanestudio.com.
Shana grew up in Freedom, Maine, and discovered her love of dance at Forest Friends Nursery School with Lisa Newcomb. She has studied dance throughout Maine, at Hampshire College, in New York City and in Senegal, West Africa. She danced professionally as a member of Nia Love’s Blacksmith's Daughter Dance Theatre Co. in NYC for 4 years and currently offers her works throughout New England. Shana is the artistic director of Women's Works (an annual offering featuring a collective of movers). Her experience and love/knowledge as a Mother, yoga facilitator, massage therapist, community activist, and physical therapy assistant provide important tools for creating a safe and loving environment to explore in.
Shana has been facilitating Yoga for over 20 years, & recently completed a 500 HR YTT in addition to a Yoga Class Curator training with Susanna Barkataki; with a focus to decolonize yoga, celebrate and honor the Roots of Yoga, and integrate social justice practices that include all bodies. Shana has been facilitating dance & movement practices since 1997, a practicing & licensed massage therapist since 2002 years & a practicing & licensed PTA since 2006.
molly gawler
Molly Gawler is a dancer, musician and mom. She founded her own company in 2012 called Droplet Dance, a collection of solo dance works with elements of acrobatics and story told by movement created with live music from the folk traditions of Maine. As a youngster, Molly studied ballet with Andrei Bossov in Pittsfield, Maine and furthered her dance training in college with contemporary and modern at SUNY Purchase in NY. She danced with various choreographers in New York City such as Corbin Dances and Nøa Dance. After that, she toured the world with Pilobolus Dance Theater and starred in the lead role of the 'dog-girl' in the show Shadowland. While a part of Pilobolus she appeared on Oprah, the Golden Globes, the Royal Variety Show and the Academy Awards. Her life led her to study circus at New England Center for Circus Arts in Brattleboro, VT where she learned Cyr Wheel, Aerial Arts and acrobatics. Molly came full circle, back home to Maine where she performs, plays fiddle, sings and teaches movement of all types. One of her greatest joys is being a mother to six year old, Caspian, and three year old Mica. She lives in Orland, Maine with her beloved husband Lao and their kiddos in a wooden yurt. Her work is often in collaboration with Belfast Dance Studio director, Shana Bloomstein and local musicians. Molly adores participating in Shana’s contemporary dance collective; Women’s Works. Contact: mollyfaye8@gmail.com
Jeffrey Densmore
Musical Director
Jeffrey Densmore has been drumming for performances and dance classes at the Belfast Dance Studio for over 15 years. He has studied drum set and hand drumming extensively in Maine, New York City, and Guinea, West Africa. Jeff is a teacher of rhythm, working with adults and children in private and group settings. For the past 25 years he has performed with musical groups in the central Maine area in a variety of genres including rock, jazz, country, funk, swing, drum ensembles and vocal groups.
MISSY HATCH
Missy did her teacher training in 1989 at the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health in Lenox, MA. She has been teaching yoga ever since. When asked, she says her style of teaching originated at Kripalu and has evolved over the years from personal experience and areas of interest. She considers her teaching to be somewhat unconventional and unstructured with a lighthearted emphasis on simply moving as one’s body allows, the goal being to create strength, space, and ease in the body. Her definition of yoga is: When we create space in our bodies, we create space in our minds.
Jackie Ascrizzi
Jackie has made yoga part of her life for 40 years. She did her teacher training at the Kripalu Center and has developed a gentle approach to build strength, flexibility and balance through a practice of postures, breath work and movement.
Keith RobinsoN
Keith Robinson has been teaching dance for over 30 years. He teaches ballet and partnering for the School of Robinson Ballet as well as at the Belfast Dance Studio in Belfast. He is on the dance faculty of the School for the Performing Arts at the University of Maine in Orono. Keith is also a certified PTR tennis instructor at the Armstrong Tennis Center in Bangor.
Hannah MerchanT
Hannah Merchant is an artist and mother living and creating in Northport where she has been building an off-grid home and homestead. Hannah has a BFA in Art and Public Engagement and has always been drawn to the transformative aspects of art and art making. Hannah found dance through her years of studying the mind body connection and personal development while healing a chronic illness and chronic pain. Dance is powerful for connecting one to their own body, to bring together community, and access higher states of joy and gratitude. Hannah works to reconnect you to the intuitive wisdom of the body, your resilience and creativity. She guides classes and groups in Belfast, around the world through Zoom, and 1-on-1 sessions to awaken creativity and empower you to be all you desire to express. Contact: hannahmerchant.biome@gmail.com
KRISTEN TIMCHAK
Kristen (she/her) is a nervous system coach, ayurvedic educator, Somatic Stress Release Practitioner and mother. She began her deep dive into the world of somatic practices through yoga and later contact improvisation and authentic movement. With over 15 years of Contact Improvisation experience she values creating a space with the nervous system in mind, where the participants can connect with their own bodies as well as exploring movement with others. www.nourishednervoussystem.com
Lori LeBlanc LMT, BFA
Sound Healer, Drummer, and Licensed Massage Therapist since 1994. Certified in: Polarity Therapy, BioSonic Repatterning, Tibetan Singing Bowl Therapy. Lori’s passion for music led her to explore the healing power of sound. Residing in Belfast, she has traveled throughout the east coast teaching classes, offering group & private sessions, retreats, and collaborations. Contact Lori at lori7bowls@gmail.com or 207-208-7492.
Mirja Pitkin
Mirja Pitkin is a wellness coach, personal trainer, and EFT/tapping guide. She is all about helping people feel better physically, mentally and emotionally. Learn more about her: Feel Better Class.
The Feel Better class combines breath-
work, mindful movement, cardiovascular
intervals, and tools for balancing your
nervous system. Leave class feeling better mentally and physically, more grounded and calmer.
Drop-ins welcome, sliding scale $10 - $25.
Mirja Pitkin educates people about alignment, nervous system regulation, and healthy ways to feel better. She leads students and clients through
different practices to learn how easy it is to experience more calm, well-being and JOY!
*Wellness coach *EFT/tapping guide *Personal trainer *Reiki Level II
jasmine june
Jasmine June has trained in many dance styles, but at 23 she found fusion belly dance and fell in love with this beautiful art form. She spent time in Berlin, Germany as a member of a Turkish belly dance company and she was a member of the belly dance fusion company Little Egypt, led by Jill Parker, in San Francisco. She has three levels of certification from renowned fusion dancer Zoe Jakes and has been teaching for over 10 years.
Michele Cox - Ballet, Jazz
Michele Cox instructs Classical Ballet and Jazzin' Hip Hop in four midcoast locations. The P2PDance Center on 27 Knowlton Street in Camden houses the majority of the schools' classes. Four the past four years, Ms. Cox has also extended her instruction to three outreach dance facilities: the Belfast Dance Studio on Saturdays, the Belfast YMCA on Tuesdays and Saturdays and Great Salt Bay School on Fridays. A co-founding member of P2PDance and it's performing arm, Atlantic Ballet Company, Ms. Cox performed as a member of the Senior Company, while also acting as rehearsal director for the Junior Company. In 1988, Ms. Cox restructured P2PDance Center, emphasizing a stronger base in classical ballet technique for each student performer. Ms. Cox studied classical ballet, taught in the Russian Vagavona style with Sharon Dante, director of Nutmeg Ballet Conservatory of the Arts and with Andre Bossov, soloist with the Kirov Ballet. She furthered her training in ballet, modern, jazz and African dance at Bates College, Duke University, Manhattanville College, Portland Ballet and with Sarah Yarborough, soloist with the Alvin Ailey Company as well as with Arthur Hall, a co-founder of People To People Dance Company. She has performed and taught Ballet, jazz, modern and African dance in theaters and schools throughout Maine.