Karen Reedy

Choreographer, dancer, and educator, Ms. Reedy was the founder and artistic director of Karen Reedy Dance (KRD) from 2007-2015. A highly musical artist with strong choreographic sensibilities for pattern, texture and emotion, her works span the continuum of classical and contemporary dance in traditional as well as site specific performance. Her work is often highly collaborative with musicians and visual artists. Ms. Reedy was the recipient of a 2008 Kennedy Center Local Dance Commissioning Grant for the creation of Sleepwalking and was a 2012-2013 American Dance Institute Incubator Artist for the creation of Albatross. With an interest in creating dance specifically for film, she was awarded the 2014-2015 Mathy Junior Faculty Award for the research of her first screendance titled Les Falaises. Ms. Reedy’s choreography is in the repertory of companies and colleges throughout the country. As a dancer, Ms. Reedy has performed with The Mark Morris Dance Group, Robert Battle, Eric Hampton Dance, DC Dance Theater, Luis Johnson and Sue Bernhard among others. As dance educator, Ms. Reedy has been among the faculty at the Juilliard School, The Mark Morris Dance Group, The Washington Ballet and The Chautauqua Institution. She is an Associate Professor of Dance at George Mason University, where she has been on faculty since 2006 and has received awards including the Excellence in Teaching Award and the Alumni Service Award. Ms. Reedy served in the role of Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education in the College of Visual and Performing Arts during the 2019-2020 academic year and was the Director of the School of Dance from 2020-2024.

Research

• Alexandria Commission for the Arts, 2015
• Bossak-Heilbron Charitable Foundation, 2013          
• Alexandria Commission for the Arts Organizational Operating Grant, 2013

Honors and Awards

• Online Excellence Award 2017. (Open Portfolio Review Spring 2017: Dance Appreciation Fall 2016), Office of Distance Learning, George Mason University.
• The Mathy Junior Faculty Award 2014-2015 (A semester sabbatical (Fall 2014) for creative research “Dance for Camera”), George Mason University, College of Humanities and Social Science
• Metro Arts Incubator 2012-2013 (Artist in Residence for the creation of Albatross), American Dance Institute
• University Life Fellowship: Course release for Spring 2011 This fellowship was for my collaboration with Lauren Long, GMU Director of Student Involvement. Our work together involved planning for a campus-wide Event called the Mason Dance Jam , Mason University Life
• Kennedy Center Local Dance Commissioning Project 2008. Choreography Commission Sleepwalking. Performed September 11 and 12, 2008, Kennedy Center
• The Thomas W. Iszard III Alumni Service Award 2007 , George Mason University College of Visual and Performing Arts

Degrees

• MFA, Dance, George Mason University
• BFA, Dance, George Mason University