Kari Burke Lehman's dance experience has been an inspirational whirlwind of people, places, and styles. She began her dance training with Gem City Ballet, a youth company in Dayton, Ohio, where she enjoyed performing the classics such as The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, Giselle, Coppelia, and Balanchine's Concerto Barocco. She got her first tastes of stylized dancing through her roles in the 100th Anniversary of Flight celebration, and had the amazing privilege to share the stage with Neil Armstrong. Kari received her BA in both dance performance/choreography and psychology at Hope College in Holland, Michigan. There her dance studies shifted to modern and she was fortunate to study closely with dancers from Pilobolus, Alvin Ailey, Giordano, and Nikolais. She travelled and performed with Hope's affiliate modern dance company, dANCEpROjECt. She also choreographed and performed for Hope Summer Repertory Theatre in Godspell, Go, Dog, Go!, Kiss Me Kate, Forever Plaid, and 1940's Radio Hour. She even got to work with a local television show, Come on Over! After college she spent a stint in Columbus, Ohio, performing with jazz fusion dance company Xclaim. Since moving to Austin in 2010, Kari performed with Kanye West at the SXSW Seaholm Powerplant show. Wanting to try a completely new challenge, Kari began taking aerial dance classes and working with partner balance and acro yoga. She most recently performed with Blue Lapis Light's production Devotion on the Seaholm Power Plant water intake building.
