Kathleen Rea
Canada🇨🇦
About
Toronto-based dancer, choreographer, and Contact Improvisation teacher. Trained with Ballet Jörgen, the National Ballet of Canada, and Tiroler Landestheater (Austria). Has been devoted to CI for 27 years. Director of REAson d'etre dance, a Toronto-based charitable company rooted in CI, which produces a weekly jam (running 28 years), the Contact Dance Film Festival, and dance-theatre works. Holds a Master's in Expressive Arts (Psychology minor); certified Axis Syllabus and Buteyko Breathing teacher. Has received five Dora Award nominations for her 40+ choreographic works. Developed the widely referenced REAson d'etre Dance Jam Guidelines and founded the Contact Improv Consent Culture Blog, which have shaped global CI practice. Author of The Healing Dance. Autistic and learning disabled — experiences that deeply inform her commitment to inclusion, neurodiversity, and consent culture.