Kat J. Sullivan, MFA is a dance artist based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her works revels in the making of, moving in, photographing of, and writing about dance in all its forms. In 2022 she received a Master of Fine Arts degree in Dance from Temple University, where she received the Dance Film Award for excellence in screendance as well.
Kat graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Dance and a minor in Anthropology from Franklin & Marshall College. During her years there, she had the great pleasure of performing in reconstructions of Martha Graham’s Celebration and Mark Morris’ Polka. Kat also practiced with, performed with, and lead the campus’ compositional improvisation ensemble, Just Say Yes. She had the opportunity to study Czech language, literature, history, and arts in Prague during a semester-long abroad program with the School for International Training. Upon her commencement from F&M, Kat had received a Hackman Scholarship to research the teaching and phenomenological experience of compositional improvisation with Pamela Vail, as well as the departmental Excellence in Choreography Award.
Since moving to Philly, Kat has performed with companies and artists like Hillary Pearson, the Philadelphia Compositional Improvisation Ensemble, and <fidget>. In 2019, she was selected to perform in Yael Bartana’s Bury Our Weapons, Not Our Bodies!, a new work that opened at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Kat’s own work has been produced at Koresh’s Come Together Festival (PHL), the Triskelion Arts Comedy in Dance Festival (NYC), FringeArts’ Scratch Night (PHL), Studio Works by the Leah Stein Dance Company (PHL), and more. Her dance works, described by thINKingDANCE as having a “spare rigor,” take form in choreographed, improvised, live, or filmed forms.
Kat’s dance writing is most frequently published on the Philly-based online dance journal thINKingDANCE. She also has the pleasure of editing and serving on the board for tD. In addition, her writing has been published on the Broad Street Review, CurateThis, and Contact Quarterly. Kat’s writing encompasses dance criticism and response, as well as reflections on her own practice. Kat considers writing and dance to be two fundamental and intertwined mediums making up her creative process.
Her photographic work encompasses Kat’s experience on both sides of the lens. She engages as a dance artist and model in an ongoing collaboration with arts photographer Paul Taylor. Kat has photographed several dance performances for artists like Wear Your Feelings, Leah Stein Dance Company, and Tori Lawrence + Co. in Philadelphia. In either role, she is intrigued by the emergent process of translating the kinesthetic into the visual and vice versa.
A copy of her CV is available for download here.