Kara Chan, one of Dance Magazine's "25 to Watch" for 2020, is a New York City dance artist and educator. A native of Vancouver Canada, Kara received her pre-professional training at Pro Arte Centre, under the direction of Astrid Sherman. A B.F.A. graduate from The Juilliard School (under the direction of Lawrence Rhodes), she performed masterworks by Mark Morris, Jose Limon, Murray Louis, Merce Cunningham, Lar Lubovitch, and Jerome Robbins. In 2014 (her senior year), Kara made her professional debut at The Joyce Theatre with the Lar Lubovitch Company as a guest artist.
Currently, Kara is in the cast of Justin Peck's Illinoise, a dance-music-theatre piece based on Sufjan Steven's album Illinois (Off Broadway: Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, The Fischer Center; Park Avenue Armory). She has toured and performed principal roles in both repertory works and new creations with Twyla Tharp Dance. Kara is a dancer for Pam Tanowitz Dance and other performance credits include Mark Morris Dance Group, Merce Cunningham Trust, Gleich Dances, Janis Brenner & Dancers, Dance Heginbotham, Kathryn Posin Dance Company, Keigwin + CO, Trainor Dance, Barkin/Selissen Project and MorDance.
When she is not dancing, Kara can be found in nature hiking, in the kitchen baking & cooking, playing the piano, and teaching dance & piano to kids. She teaches at various dance studios in NYC and NJ, and has been an invited guest teacher for summer programs including Dance Device Lab, Open Doors Dance Festival, and FRESH Dance Intensive. Kara is an ABT® Certified Teacher in Pre-Primary through Level 5 of the ABT® National Training Curriculum. She is also a certified Kelly Kirby Kindergarten Piano Teacher and enjoys sharing her passion for dance & music with her students.
