Artists

Leadership

Kara Robertson, Artistic Director

Kara Robertson is the Artistic Director of Richmond, Virginia’s Karar Dance Company.  She also currently serves as Adjunct Professor at the University of Mary Washington in the Department of Theatre and Dance.

Kara was awarded a three day residency at the Grace Street Theater by Virginia Commonwealth University Department of Dance and Choregraphy with support from the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation. This residency supported the initiation of Kara’s newest work Shapeshifter, which premiered at the Red Rock Dance Festival in St. George, Utah. She premiered Disquiet as part of the Movers and Makers intensive hosted by Wasatch Contemporary Dance in Provo, Utah. Kara has also produced two INFORMAL concerts at the Libby S. Gottwald Playhouse at the Dominion Energy Center in Richmond, Virginia, eliminating the barrier between audience and artist.

Kara was selected by Dogtown Dance Theatre to craft an evening length work as part of the Dogtown Presenter’s Series residency. She was awarded grant and space support to create Circadian, inspired by the photographic series Hong Kong Yesterday by Fan Ho. Kara assembled a team of Richmond-based artists to craft original costuming, lighting design, and set design for this in-the-round work.

Through Karar Dance Company, Kara has served as a mentor for the company’s Young Dancer Mentorship, interviewer for the Interview Series, and co-curator for the River City Dance Film Festival.

Kara has worked with New York City’s Harper Continuum Dance Theatre for The First Annual Artists’ Showcase at The Barns of Kanak in Prince George, Virginia as well as on Sessions: Affected with Gallery Edit and musician Ryan Davis in Richmond.  Karar’s production of Across Disciplines as part of artoberVA in October 2018, where premiered three new works by Kara in collaboration with local artists; Affected with original music by Ryan Davis, The In-between featuring visual art by Katy Pumphrey, and dance film Where to from here? in conjunction with Callie Moore.  The company has since performed at the American Dance Guild Festival in New York City at the Ailey Citigroup Theater, the Newburgh Illuminated Festival in Newburgh, NY, Small Plates Lorton, and the Richmond Dance Festival.

Kara and her work has received attention by Style Weekly, RVA Magazine, CultureWorks Richmond, Virginia this Morning on Channel 6, VCU Alumni in spotlight feature including article “Refined movement”, and Broadway World.

Kara has served as a guest artist at Virginia Commonwealth University, Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Dallas, Texas, South East Dance Academy in Wilmington, North Carolina, and Salem High School Visual and Performing Arts Academy in Virginia Beach, Virginia. As a resident at the 2019 Mudhouse Residency in Agios Ioannis, Crete, Kara connected with fellow artists from multiple disciplines and countries around the world while continuing to explore and develop her choreographic voice.  She has also attended the Chunky Move and Countertechnique Workshop with then Chunky Move Artistic Director, Anouk Van Dijk in New York City. Kara was selected for Doug Varone and Dancers’ DEVICES Choreographic Mentorship and Intensive which culminated in the premiere of her work StandStill at Gibney Dance in August 2016 in New York City.

Kara graduated Magna Cum Laude from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2016 earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance and Choreography and minor in General Business.  She was the recipient of the VCU Dance Bobby Chandler Award in Honor of Chris Burnside and Outstanding Choreographer award. Her work Amid was selected by adjudicators from the Mid-Atlantic American College Dance Association to be presented for the National Conference held at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. in 2016.  Kara studied at ImPulsTanz Vienna International Dance Festival with support from the VCUarts Dean’s International Study Grant. In Summer 2013, she studied abroad in Sicily under the direction of Melanie Richards on a VCU Summer Study Abroad Scholarship.

Kara is a Richmond native and alumna of Henrico High School Center for the Arts.

Corin Illsley Gonzalez, Associate Artistic Director

Corin Illsley Gonzalez began her dance training with The Crossroads School of the Arts at the age of eight. She continued to concentrate in ballet at Vostrikov’s Academy of Ballet. From there she attended Shenandoah Conservatory Arts Academy in 2006 where she discovered her love for modern and contemporary dance. Two years later she was approached by Shenandoah University‘s dance department and was asked to attend during high school. Illsley has performed works by Doug Varone, Netta Yerushalmy, Jessica Taylor (DAMAGEDANCE), Christian von Howard, Judith Steel, and Maurice Fraga. She was apart of the Richmond Dance Festival in 2014 and 2016. Corin Illsley graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University where she earned a BFA in Dance and Choreography, May 2014. Corin joined Karar Dance Company in October 2016 and has performed with the company for both the Inaugural Concert and Across Disciplines as well as the First Annual Artist’s Showcase and Sessions: Affected. Currently currently serves as the company’s Associate Artistic Director.

Company Dancers

Hailey Clevenger

Hailey Clevenger, a Richmond native, graduated from James Madison University where she received her BA in Dance as well as her licensure in K-12 Dance Education. There, she had the privilege of working with artists such as Abraham In Motion, Gregory Dolbashian, Ryan Corriston, Ruben Graciani, Emily Cargill, as well as numerous student choreographers. At JMU she was a member of the Virginia Repertory Dance Company, JMU’s pre-professional selective company and attended the American College Dance Association. Her senior year she was one of the Student Co-Directors for the Associate Dance Ensemble, a company of first-year dance majors and was recognized as a Teacher of Promise where she had the opportunity to learn from the top educators across Virginia. Clevenger co-created 2329 Collective, a project based entity that received an undergraduate research grant from the College of Visual and Performing Arts. After graduating, she served as the Education and Community Engagement Intern for the Colorado Ballet where she worked directly with their team. Hailey now teaches dance at the Center for the Arts in Henrico County Public Schools, teaches at 804 Dance Place, is a company member with Dogwood Dance Project, and is excited to dance with Karar Dance Company!

Caitlin Espinueva

Caitlin Espinueva graduated from the University of Kentucky, receiving her BA in Dance in December 2021. There, Caitlin studied under and performed works by Susie Thiel, Theresa Bautista, Stephanie Harris, Anthony Alterio, Christopher Morgan, and Sanjay Saverimuttu, as well as choreographed her own works. Caitlin trained at the Louisville Ballet School upon graduating high school and has attended the Kentucky Governor’s School for the Arts and Regional Dance America’s National Choreography Intensive. She has travelled to perform in Anthony Alterio’s Road of Excess: Full Blown in Lexington, KY; New York City; Lorton, VA; and Detroit, MI. In 2021, Caitlin received an Honorable Mention for the William Tolbert Whittenberg Scholarship for Performing Arts Excellence. Caitlin is excited to work with Karar Dance Company!

Lexi Firestone

Lexi Firestone is originally from Bel Air, Maryland, where she began her dance training at The Maryland School of Ballet and Modern Dance at the age of 6. Growing up she studied ballet, pointe, modern, jazz, and contemporary. In May 2019, Lexi graduated with her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance Performance and Choreography from George Mason University. In her time at Mason, she had the privilege to work with Roger Jeffrey, perform at the Kennedy Center in the American College Dance Association’s National Dance Festival, studied abroad in Cuba and had her choreography presented at Harris Theater (GMU) and the Jack Guidone Theater (Washington D.C). Lexi has also furthered her training by attending intensives with Parsons Dance and Limon Dance in New York as well as SALT in Utah. After graduation, Lexi performed in Kinetic Canvas: Vincent Van Gogh and Jackson Pollock at Harford Community College and as Lucy Dancer in The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe at Imagination Stage. She has danced with Bowen McCauley Dance Company and Gin Dance Company. Lexi currently resides in Richmond and is excited to dance with Karar Dance Company!

Noteworthy Alumni

Taylor Black

Taylor Black is a Richmond-based dancer, teacher, choreographer, dance filmmaker, and bodywork practitioner. She received a BFA in dance and choreography from Virginia Commonwealth University in the spring of 2019, and currently works as a teacher, performer, and bodyworker in the Richmond area. She has a focus in choreography and dance film, and has created several works in both live performance and screen dance during her time at VCU. She has performed in works by Doug Varone, Scott Putman, Autumn Proctor Waddell, and Dr. Gaynell Sherrod; and has attended Bates Dance Festival, as well as DOVA's winter and summer intensives. Her choreography has been shown at the Richmond Dance Festival, the Small Plates Dance Festival, and the Mid-Atlantic South Regional Conference of the American College Dance Association adjudication and gala concerts. Taylor has also explored other areas such as dance critique, business of dance, and sound design. She is a certified Level I and Level II EBAS (Elemental Body Alignment System) instructor, as well as a certified Thai Bodywork practitioner.

Haley Wall

Haley Wall, who currently resides in Richmond VA, received her BFA in Dance and Choreography in May 2019 from VCU. There, Haley performed in faculty works by Scott Putman, Melanie Richards, Judith Steel, and Eric Rivera, as well as various student works. While abroad, Haley attended numerous choreographic workshops including Maurice Causey in Amsterdam, Heidi Weiss in Berlin, Nadine Beaulieu in Rouen, and performed repertory by Hofesh Schechter, Jirí Kylián and Crystal Pite. She is thrilled to be dancing for Karar Dance Company where she has performed Amid in Newburgh, NY for the Newburgh Illuminated Festival and is excited to be an original cast member for Circadian.

Amy Perkinson

Amy Perkinson received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance and Choreography and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration/International Business from Virginia Commonwealth University. She also spent time at the University of Virginia- Institute of Shipboard

Education Study Abroad, as well as the Consorzio Universitario Mediterraneo Orientale A R.L in Siracusa, Italy. She had the privilege of continuing her education by attending the American Dance Festival Winter Intensive, Doug Varone and Dancers Winter Intensive, Joe Goode: Movement for Humans Workshop, and was a member of the Inaugural ODC Next Moves Summer Intensive in San Francisco, California. She performed at New York City’s Lincoln Center in Mark Dendy’s world premiere of “Ritual Cyclical.” Amy is currently a member of Harper Continuum Dance Theatre, where she recently performed with the company and the University of Las Vegas Nevada (UNLV) at the Ensemble Studio Theatre in New York City. She is the proud Co-Owner of Pure Barre Williamsburg and co-founder of Tennessee Arts Collective. Amy currently resides in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Amy joined the company in October 2016 and has since performed Kaizen and Amid for performances at The Grace Street Theater and the 2018 Richmond Dance Festival as well as Circadian in 2019 for the Dogtown Presenter’s Series.

Karen Fleming

Karen Fleming is a recent graduate of the University of Richmond where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Dance and English. During her time at UR, she had the privilege of dancing with and serving as the Company Captain for the Department of Theatre & Dance's resident company, University Dancers. She performed in works by faculty choreographers Anne Van Gelder, Eric Rivera, and Starrene Foster as well as guest artists such as Christian von Howard, Francesca Harper, Charlotte Boye-Christensen, Larry Keigwin, Alexandra Damiani, and Ephrat Asherie. Karen also choreographed two works for the company, and both received awards from UR’s School of Arts & Sciences. For the 2021-2022 season, Karen is dancing with Ballet Theatre of Maryland as a trainee. She joined Karar Dance Company in the Summer of 2021 as a guest dancer for the creation of the company’s first dance film Symphonic Variations.

Amy Mulder

Amy Mulder is a recent BFA graduate from VCU’s Department of Dance and Choreography where she formally presented two works and performed in faculty works by Eric Rivera, and MK Abadoo, as well as various student works. Amy spent a semester in Paris, France where she attended choreographic workshops with artists Nathalie Pubellier in Paris, Maurice Causey in Amsterdam, Nadine Beaulieu in Rouen, and Heidi Weiss in Berlin while also participating in the SHARE intensive. Amy has performed excerpts of repertory by Sidra Bell, Itzik Galili, and Yin Yue. Since graduation Amy has traveled to Newburgh, NY to perform Amid by Kara Robertson with Karar Dance Company. She was also an original cast member in Circadian.