We were lucky to catch up with Kristen Karasek recently and have shared our conversation below.

Kristen, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Are you able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen?

When I went to college I had no intention of pursuing any performing arts. I majored in political science with a minor in psychology. I was the political science department assistant, worked part time as a legal clerk and was planning on taking the LSAT and going to law school. I had danced my whole life, was certified to teach and taught part time but just for fun. Then my junior year of college I decided to join the dance team. Dancing as an adult brought me so much joy that I started thinking about doing it more and more. When I graduated I decided to take a year off to pursue teaching dance and other interests before re-enrolling for law school. And the rest as they say is history.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I was born in Brooklyn and raised in Staten Island, NY. My parents Doreen and Mike owned and operated three dance studios. all named Reflections in Dance (Reflections 1, 2 & 3 respectively) my entire childhood. At the age of 15, as a sophomore in high school, my family relocated to Los Angeles. A big move at any age, my immediate family relocated to help my younger brother Michael pursue his dreams. You might know Michael (Angarano) from fan favorites ‘This is Us’, ‘Will and Grace’ and’ Almost Famous. ‘ In other words, the move was a success!

I danced all through childhood, high school and attended the teacher’s program at Dance Educators of America to earn my official certification. When I was a freshman in college, my parents opened their 1st studio on the west coast which we affectionately called ‘Reflections in Dance West.’ I taught classes at the studio and was on my college dance team. A “family style” studio, Reflections prides itself on being a home away from home for staff and dance families.

Reflections in Dance provides dance classes for children through adults and ranges from beginner through advanced classes. We provide an array of genres including acrobatics, ballet, contemporary, jazz, hip hop, musical theater, tap, technique and tumbling. Students can come to us for recreation or to be trained to dance competitively. We strive to provide a safe space and atmosphere for all of our students while providing the finest dance education.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

When I was 23 years old, I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. A hard diagnosis for anyone to hear, it especially hit home for me because I was a dancer planning on pursuing that as a career. During that time I had to adjust many things about my life including my expectations. In 2010, a friend asked if I’d be willing to participate in a charity event for the MS Society. I signed on and later was approached to join a former So You Think You Can Dance dancer in putting on dance events to benefit MS. In 2017, The MS Society called again and said they were starting a junior board, a team of young individuals who wanted to fundraise and make a difference and I was among the first group they were asking to be a part of Emerging Leaders Board. After 6 years of serving on the ELB, I have now officially moved up to the Board of Trustees. I could never have imagined that my dance career would help me pivot into this line of work as well.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

In both my dance career and my work with the National MS Socitey my simple goal is “making sure the people who can dance today, can still dance tomorrow.” Whether thats helping cure MS or keeping kids dancing through an entire worldwide pandemic- I’m here for it.

Contact Info:

• Website: reflectionsindance.com
• Instagram: kristen_karasek, reflections_in_dance
• Facebook: Kristen Karasek
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristen-karasek-4a174a36/
• Youtube: Reflections in Dance
• Yelp: Reflections in Dance