Krista Brown is a Senior Teaching Artist sharing roles between the Lower Division Academy and Education & Community Engagement. She began dancing with her twin sister at age 7 with an early love of tap and show choir. After years of training in a local studio outside of Chicago, she fell in love with ballet under the direction of Barb Conley. These early moments and relationships impacted her life and her lifelong love of dance.

During her undergraduate career studying modern dance and kinesiology at Indiana University, as well as the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance Conservatory in Israel, she learned the power of improvisation and creative movement practices which guides her work with young students. As an interdisciplinary artist and teacher, Krista holds a Master of Arts in Social and Cultural Foundations in Education from DePaul University where she wrote her thesis “Dance Education for the Lifelong Learner” as a guiding purpose for her teaching practice. Krista has taught as an adjunct professor of education at DePaul University for 5+ years, guiding pre-service educators to think deeply about pedagogy. Krista is always seeking the best for her students now and in the future.

Other noteworthy moments in Krista’s career are the professional performance and training opportunities. She has completed extensive scholarship training in Chicago from Visceral Dance Center and The Cambrians where she built her early professional career in contemporary and ballet practices. Before the pandemic, Krista was dancing with urban legacy jazz dance company, Joel Hall Dancers. After her move to Denver in 2020, Krista danced as a guest with contemporary ballet Wonderbound, modern dance company Cleo Parker Robinson Dance, and immersive theatre group Control Group Productions. Currently, she is working with Gwendolyn Gussman and in April 2024 completed a creative residency located in Sonoma building a project with a team of musicians about the prevention and implications of forest fire. Krista continues to be a part of the Denver community of dance artists as a teacher, mover, and supporter of all things arts education!