Karen trained in ballet, jazz and modern dance and received a BA in Dance from Belhaven University. Following a professional contemporary dance career with MOMIX, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Rubberbandance Group and others, Karen has spent the past decade and a half teaching and creating from NW Arkansas. Karen is currently an instructor of dance at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, and the NWA Conservatory of Classical Ballet, as well as the Arts Services Coordinator for CACHE, the region’s arts service organization. She has received grants for her work from Arkansas Arts Council, Mid-America Arts Alliance, and the Walton Family Foundation. For three years she co-led a collective, NWA Movement Hub, that served NW Arkansas audiences and the dance community by producing public performances, including a choreography showcase for local choreographers, and providing open community dance classes.
Karen’s sees choreography as problem-solving, gravitating towards puzzles to untangle and re-assemble. Her teaching philosophy revolves around the belief that every body is a dancing body and she loves to help dancers find movement possibilities with greater freedom and intention.
