Photo by Cathryn Farnsworth

Born and raised in Queens, New York, Katie Tapalaga (she/her) is an interdisciplinary artist and dancer pursuing a BFA in Dance at the USC Glorya Kaufman School of Dance, where she trains in ballet, vernacular jazz, house, African dance, Horton, and Dunham techniques. She will also graduate with a minor in Law and Social Justice through the USC Gould School of Law.

Katie began dancing at age four through Romanian folk dance and continued her training at That’s Dancin’, Jump Dance Company, and the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts under Ian DaSilva, Ani Udovicki, and Oliver Heuts. She is a graduate of the MOVE|NYC| Young Professional Program and has trained through Joffrey Ballet, Ballet Hispánico, Marinda Davis’ Storytellers, A.I.M Winter Intensive, and international studies in Berlin and Paris.

At USC Kaufman, Katie has performed works by E. Moncell Durden, Jiří Kylián, Caili Quan, Jakevis Thomason, Martha Graham, Tyce Diorio, Mandy Moore, and Robert Roldan. Her dance credits include Dances That Made America, Falling Angels, Playing Perspective, Thomason Variation, along with performing at events such as BOLERO X with Ballet BC, Graham100, and the USC Kaufman 10th Anniversary Gala.

Her professional work includes film, commercial, and theater performance, including a dancer in Bleachers music video and Coca-Cola commercial, performing at BAMKids Film Festival, assisting at NUVO Dance Convention, and pre-Broadway theater workshops for Karla Puno Garcia and Tuan Malinowski.

Katie is passionate about the intersection of dance, law, and social justice, with particular interests in equality and representation for dancers and choreographers in the entertainment industry, such as understanding contracts, fair payment, and protection of performer’s bodies.