Professor, Dance
Head, Dance Program
M.A. Dance Education, Antioch University, Yellow Springs Ohio, 1993
B.A. Dance Education, Hampshire College, Amherst, Mass., 1978
Office Telephone: 243-2870
Fax Number: 243-5726
E-mail: karen.kaufmann@umontana.edu
Karen Kaufmann began dancing when she was 10 years old and became interested in teaching children's dance while an undergraduate at Hampshire College. She came to The University of Montana-Missoula in 1977 as a senior to do an independent study in children's dance with Nancy Brooks Schmitz, then a faculty member in the UM dance program. Karen auditioned and was accepted in MAGIC MOVERS, a dance company which focused specifically on performances for children. The following year Karen became Company Manager which, along with choreographing and performing, she did for four years. In 1981 she left UM to start "Valley Dance Arts," a private studio in Missoula. Several years of freelancing followed as Karen traveled the state as a performer with Young Audiences, a teacher through Artist in Schools/Communities and UM's Continuing Education Program. In 1993, Amy Ragsdale invited Karen back to UM to work with her in a new dance company and Mo-Trans (the Montana Transport Company) was born.
Today Karen acts as Mo-Trans' Managing Director and teaches dance to people of all ages and abilities. She oversees the teaching track in the UM dance program, and works extensively with special populations and school children. Karen has written several publications for classroom teachers and was featured in A Step Forward, a Montana Public Television Program [June, 1998] featuring her dance work with adults with developmental disabilities. She was a 1997-98 Faculty Fellow through the Montana University System and has received several University of Montana grants for her choreography and service learning work. Karen has an article on Service Learning in Dance scheduled to be published in the February, 1999, edition of Dance Teacher Now.