A native of Hutchinson, Kansas, Kara Davis has danced for BalletMet, Atlanta Ballet, Ohio Ballet, the San Francisco Opera Ballet, and Ballet Jorgen in Toronto, Ontario. She is a founding member of KUNST-STOFF and Janice Garrett & Dancers, both of whom she danced for ten years. Since moving to San Francisco in 1996, she has danced for The Foundry, Margaret Jenkins Dance Company, Robert Moses, Kathleen Hermesdorf, Holly Johnston, Amy Raymond, Pearl Ubungen Dancers & Musicians, and Mary Carbonara. She won an “Izzie” in 2003 for “Outstanding Achievement in Individual Performance” and was San Francisco Chronicle dance critic Rachel Howard’s pick for 2005’s MVP.
Davis has taught at the San Francisco Ballet School, Berkeley Ballet, Atlanta Ballet School, ODC, UC Berkeley, Saint Mary’s College, Stanford University, Mills College, SF State, San Jose State University, Guangdong Modern Dance Academy in Guang Zhou, China and in Cairo, Egypt. She has been a faculty member for LINES Ballet’s education programs since 2005 and co-founded project agora (project-agora.com) with Bliss Kohlmyer in 2006. The company has since presented work at the Bates Dance Festival (Artists in Residence 2015), Edinburgh Fringe Festival, SF International Arts Festival, ODC Theater, Dance Mission, and SPF. As an independent choreographer her work has been selected as a finalist (2009) and runner-up (2012) for ACDA, and has been performed at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Cowell Theater, and the California Theater (sjDANCEco commission) and the Museum of Performance + Design. Davis has received numerous Isadora Duncan nominations for her choreography and one “Best Choreography” award for Terra Incognita, Revisited, a collaboration with Manuelito Biag, Katie Faulkner, and Alex Ketley.
Davis was an Artist in Residence at the Headlands Center For The Arts in 2009 and currently teaches at University of San Francisco. She earned her MFA from Hollins University in 2013.
Alonzo King LINES Ballet | BFA Program, Dance Center, Summer Program, Training Program