Accumulation Dance is a partnership between Meghan McLyman and Kristen Duffy Young, whose mission is to create original work that expresses the human experience through dance and performance. These artists were drawn together by their shared interests in somatic-based dance practices, collaborative dance making, and the investigation of their identities as feminists and mothers. They are interested in searching for and expressing personal truths. Each work digs deeper into questioning how one’s life pushes against or folds into the confines of societal frameworks. A modern/contemporary dance vocabulary, storytelling, and humor give voice to their work.

Accumulation Dance has received support for their choreography from the New England Foundation for the Arts, The Boston Foundation and Boston Center for the Arts, and have been presented by Crash Arts/World Music, The Somatics Dance Conference, The Museum of Fine Arts, The Southern Vermont Dance Festival, Salem Arts Festival, Art Beat/Somerville Arts Council, Dance for World Community, The Dance Complex, Green Street Studios, Across the Ages Dance Project, Tufts University, College of the Holy Cross, Salem State University, and Hollins University/American Dance Festival.

MEGHAN MCLYMAN (MFA, MA, BA) is a Professor of dance at Salem State University and the Chair of the Music and Dance Department, where she has been instrumental in creating the Bachelor of Arts degree in dance. The University recognized her passion for teaching with the 2017 Distinguished Teaching Award, and in 2018 she received the Arts Learning Distinguished Teaching and Arts Advocacy Award. Meghan graduated with a BA in dance from Point Park University, received an MA in dance and arts management from American University, and an MFA from Hollins University in partnership with the American Dance Festival. Meghan has taught courses at various dance programs including The Colleges of the Fenway, The College of the Holy Cross, James Madison University, North Quincy High School, Green Street Studios, and Avery Ballet. She has held master classes at Moving Target Boston, The Dance Complex, Tufts University, MIT, Webster University, the American Dance Festival, the American College Dance Association, and at the Massachusetts Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance. Meghan has performed with The Caitlin Corbett Dance Company, 4 Square, The Falling Flight Project, Digby Dance, The Moving Laboratory, Flip Side Dance Theatre, Sister's Trousers, and with The Avery Ballet. She continues to develop her craft by immersing herself in various workshops, conferences, and master classes. She is on the board of the Massachusetts Dance Education Organization, the state chapter under National Dance Education Organization, and recently served on the board of the American College Dance Association New England Region. She is in the process of becoming a Certified Evans Teacher under Bill Evans, as well as a Moving For Life Certified Instructor under Martha Eddy.

KRISTEN DUFFY YOUNG (MFA, CMA, BA, BBA) is the Co-Director of Performing Arts and Director of Dance at Colleges of the Fenway, a consortium of five colleges in Boston: Emmanuel College, Simmons College, Wentworth Institute of Technology, Massachusetts College of Pharmacy, and Massachusetts College of Art and Design. She is also an Adjunct Professor in the Theater Department at Emmanuel College where she teaches courses in dance technique and somatics, and choreographs main stage musical theater productions. Kristen has also instructed courses at The Laban/Bartenieff Institute of Movement Studies program at Lesley University, Salem State University, The Longy School of Music, Needham Public Schools, Students Acting to Make a Difference, and Next Generation Theatre Company.

Kristen received an MFA in Interdisciplinary Arts from Goddard College and a BA in Dance and BBA in Marketing from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst/Five College Dance Program. She is also a Certified Movement Analyst (CMA) from the Laban/Bartenieff Institute of Movement Studies, which has grounded her teaching and choreographic work in somatic principles. Additional certifications include a Mat Pilates teacher certification through the Kane School of Core Integration in NY (now Kinected) and her current training with Bill Evans to become an Evans certified teacher.

In addition to dancing with Accumulation, Kristen has performed the work of Bill Evans, Caitlin Corbett, Bosoma Dance Company, Weber Dance, Rose Pasquarello Beauchamp, Audra Carabetta, Carey McKinley, and Julie Pike Edmond. She is currently serving as the President of the Massachusetts Chapter of the National Dance Education Organization (MADEO) and is a former board member of the Boston Dance Alliance.