A Milwaukee native, Kara Wilkes is a freelance choreographer, educator, visual artist and filmmaker. Her choreographic style explores the marriage of contemporary ballet movement with theatrical elements such as vocals, sets and props. Kara’s works are research-based, examining human experiences in relation to relevant topics including the Intelligence Age, Climate Change, and embodied generational trauma.

Kara was a 2022-23 Toulmin Choreography Fellow through NYU’s Center for Ballet and the Arts and National Sawdust. She has been the resident choreographer for Chautauqua Dance since 2023 and recently created works for Ballet Idaho Training Program, The Tallahassee Ballet, University of Oklahoma, Traverse City Dance Project, SUNY Purchase, Texas Christian University, Florida State University, the USC Kaufman School of Dance, and COCA (Center of Creative Arts) in St. Louis. This spring, Kara will be a 2026 Artist-in-Residence at Surel’s Place in Boise, ID.

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 principal 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 been named one of “25 to Watch” by Dance Magazine and one of “12 Standout Performances of 2015” by Pointe magazine; in 2016, she performed in the TEDWomen Conference in San Francisco.  She has been the 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.