Raised in Banff, Karen had the privilege of both working and studying at The Banff Centre. This rich exposure to the fine arts fuelled Karen’s passion for art and led her to pursue a career in dance. Karen began her training at the University of Calgary and continued her studies in both Singapore and Australia where she focused her attention on “Liturgical dance”.  Upon returning to Canada in 1990, Karen founded the Christian Dance Fellowship of Canada to network dancers and further develop dance as a faith-expressed art form. Recognizing the growing need for quality dance training, which embraced a spiritual foundation, Karen began Crossings Dance Ministries, Canada’s first dance training centre of its kind. To provide valuable performance opportunities for aspiring dancers, Karen founded Corps Bara Dance Theatre and remains on the Board of Directors. In addition she is a Board member for Healthy Dancer Canada and a member of the International Association of Dance Medicine and Science. Karen holds her Pilates Mat Certification from Pilates Core Integration, her Pilates Method Alliance Certificate for Pilates for Youth and Level one of the Dance Teacher and Practitioner Training through Perfect Form Physiotherapy with Lisa Howell (2015).  She was awarded the 2011 International Award for Dance Ministry from the International Christian Dance Fellowship for her outstanding contributions in the field of Dance and Faith. Karen recently completed her Masters of Dance Science at Wolverhampton University, UK, and actively involved in developing leading edge dance training and safe dance practice.