Maria Portman Kelly joined the Mark Morris Dance Group as a work/study participant in 2011 and was hired to support the Dance for PD program in 2012. Prior to that, she danced with the Louisville Ballet, Susana B. Williams Modern Dance Company, and Ballet Español, and performed as an actor with Shakespeare Theatre Company, The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, and Actors Theatre of Louisville, among others. In collaboration with the Obie Award-winning Bushwick Starr, where she worked as General Manager for four seasons, she co-created classroom curriculum for Big Green Theater, their environmental education initiative. Originally from Louisville, KY, Maria holds a BFA from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, a Certificate in Nonprofit Management from Medgar Evers College, and an MA in Disability Studies from CUNY School of Professional Studies. She was selected by the New York Foundation for the Arts as an Emerging Leader and was invited to co-facilitate an art and entrepreneurial residency with The Amahoro Dance Troupe of Gisenyi, Rwanda.