Kara Wilkes
A Milwaukee native, Kara Wilkes is an educator, choreographer, visual artist, and filmmaker. Her expertise in classical and contemporary ballet is supported by her twenty-year career performing with Milwaukee Ballet Company, Ballet Victor Ullate, Charlotte Ballet, and Alonzo King LINES Ballet. Kara has danced leading roles in works by Alvin Ailey, Twyla Tharp, Alonzo King, Nacho Duato, Jacqulyn Buglisi, Dwight Rhoden, George Balanchine, Darrell Grand Moultrie, and others. She has served as Rehearsal Director for LINES and continues to teach workshops and répertoire for the organization. In 2019, Kara earned her MFA in Dance from Hollins University and has since been on dance faculties at Florida State University, Wake Forest University, Mills College, and Santa Clara University. In 2022-23, Kara was a Toulmin Choreography Fellow through NYU’s Center for Ballet and the Arts and National Sawdust. She has created works for Ballet Idaho II, The Tallahassee Ballet, University of Oklahoma, Chautauqua Dance, Traverse City Dance Project, SUNY Purchase, Texas Christian University, the USC Kaufman School of Dance, and COCA (Center of Creative Arts) in St. Louis. Kara’s choreographic research investigates generational trauma, addiction, and healing; it also examines impacts of the Information Age on human behavior and our planet. Kara is a movie enthusiast whose creations are often cinematic and interdisciplinary; viewers are exposed to theatrical elements such as props/sets, vocals, and gesture-inspired movement.