Photo by Jason Lam
Katerina (Katie) Wong is a choreographer, performing artist, and arts administrator originally from New Jersey and based in San Francisco, California since 2012. Katie’s creative explorations are rooted in her love of culture, communication, and collaboration, a direct reflection of her mixed heritage as a first generation, Chinese-American, Jewish artist. Her works often feature layered sound scores or video installations, which generate complex storytelling experiences that welcome community dialogue and debate. Her practices are centered on meaningful collaboration, community bridge building, and deep artistic partnership.
In September 2018, Katie became the first Associate Artistic Director of RAWdance, a San Francisco-based contemporary dance company, voted "Best Dance Company" in Best of the Bay 2019 by 48 Hills and San Francisco Bay Guardian. She stepped into the role of Co-Artistic Director of the company in the fall of 2019. She is excited to expand the company’s vision of its future, as well as continue their work within the community, including their bi-annual pay-what-you-can intimate and acclaimed salon, the CONCEPT Series.
Katie attended Princeton University and graduated cum laude with a degree in Cultural Anthropology and a certificate in Dance and East Asian Studies. While at Princeton, she had the honor of studying with and performing works by Mark Morris, Twyla Tharp, Susan Marshall, Camille A. Brown, Zvi Gotheiner, Rebecca Lazier, Cherylyn Lavagnino, Ze'eva Cohen and Tina Fehlandt. Her choreography was selected for the inaugural "IVIES @ CUNNINGHAM" festival in New York City. Katie was presented with a Francis LeMoyne Page Dance Award to honor distinctive achievement in dance.
Upon graduating, Katie was granted a Princeton-in-Asia Teaching Fellowship at the China Foreign Affairs University. While in Beijing, she taught and choreographed for the Future Dance Ensemble of Peking University and launched a series of dance workshops for the Migrant Children's Foundation. Since returning to the states, Katie has continued to advocate for arts education, teaching as a guest artist in the public schools of St. Louis through Dance St. Louis, and at the University of Akron through the National Center for Choreography.
As an active member of the San Francisco dance community, Katie has had the pleasure of being a company member of RAWdance, Printz Dance Project, LEVYdance, PUSH Dance Company, and Concept o4. She has also guest performed with the San Francisco Symphony, Bellwether Dance Project, Sculpted Motion, Blind Tiger Society, Robert Moses' KIN, Dexandro Montalvo, Project Tremolo, ka-nei-see | collective, and Ziru Dance, among others.
Described as an “impressive feat” and “fiercely physicalized” by the San Francisco Chronicle, Katie’s choreography has been presented throughout the Bay Area in venues including Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Z Space, ODC Theater, CounterPulse, Fort Mason, Dance Mission Theater, Joe Goode Annex, Piano Fight, The Cutting Ball Theater, Yerba Buena Gardens, Golden Gate Park's Music Concourse, SF Public Library, The Bindery, the SF War Memorial's Green Room, DZINE, the Exploratorium and Code and Canvas. She choreographed two evening-length works with dance theatre company Brickabrack from 2012-2014, was the Resident Choreographer of PUSH Dance Company from 2014-2016, and was the JuMP Commissioned Choreographer for FACT/SF in 2016.
Katie is committed to seeking new ways to make dance engaging and accessible to wider audiences. In 2016, she worked as a movement and industry consultant for a new mobile dance game app called Jounce. From 2017-2018, her work was commissioned by the California Academy of Sciences to be presented at their after-hours event, NightLife. In the fall of 2017, Katie was commissioned to create the first dance work presented by Pop-Up Magazine, a live literary magazine, which toured to 6-cities throughout the nation, culminating in a performance at Lincoln Center.
Katie’s passion for advancing the field of dance extends beyond just her artistry. Her dedication to arts administration and marketing is exemplified by her five-year tenure at Alonzo King LINES Ballet. As the LINES Ballet Training Program Coordinator, she enthusiastically supported the growth and shaping of young pre-professional artists. As Digital Strategist, she re-envisioned the organization’s social media and online presence, emphasizing the importance of accessibility, trust, and storytelling. In this role, she had the privilege of working with VaynerMedia, through the support of Bloomberg Philanthropies and the Doris Duke Foundation, on a 6-month one-on-one arts marketing and social media consultation. She continues to support various art institutions throughout the Bay Area in their digital engagement and storytelling efforts.
Katie is a recipient of Dance/USA's Institute for Leadership Training mentorship 2019-2020 and a selected participant of APAP's Emerging Leadership Institute Class of 2020. She was invited to Asylum Arts' first Bay Area Jewish Artist retreat in 2019. She is a mentee for the 2020 WOCA Leadership through Mentorship (LTM) Program and a selected choreographer for ODC's Sandbox Series 2020 and Joe Goode's The Feedback 2020. She's been invited to speak at the Jewish Federations of America's FedPro 2021 Opening Plenary, Chlo & Co's Tabled Series: Race and Identity, and moderated a panel discussion on "The Shift to Shared Leadership" for Dance/USA's Annual Conference 2021.
In September 2018, Katie became the first Associate Artistic Director of RAWdance, a San Francisco-based contemporary dance company, voted "Best Dance Company" in Best of the Bay 2019 by 48 Hills and San Francisco Bay Guardian. She stepped into the role of Co-Artistic Director of the company in the fall of 2019. She is excited to expand the company’s vision of its future, as well as continue their work within the community, including their bi-annual pay-what-you-can intimate and acclaimed salon, the CONCEPT Series.
Katie attended Princeton University and graduated cum laude with a degree in Cultural Anthropology and a certificate in Dance and East Asian Studies. While at Princeton, she had the honor of studying with and performing works by Mark Morris, Twyla Tharp, Susan Marshall, Camille A. Brown, Zvi Gotheiner, Rebecca Lazier, Cherylyn Lavagnino, Ze'eva Cohen and Tina Fehlandt. Her choreography was selected for the inaugural "IVIES @ CUNNINGHAM" festival in New York City. Katie was presented with a Francis LeMoyne Page Dance Award to honor distinctive achievement in dance.
Upon graduating, Katie was granted a Princeton-in-Asia Teaching Fellowship at the China Foreign Affairs University. While in Beijing, she taught and choreographed for the Future Dance Ensemble of Peking University and launched a series of dance workshops for the Migrant Children's Foundation. Since returning to the states, Katie has continued to advocate for arts education, teaching as a guest artist in the public schools of St. Louis through Dance St. Louis, and at the University of Akron through the National Center for Choreography.
As an active member of the San Francisco dance community, Katie has had the pleasure of being a company member of RAWdance, Printz Dance Project, LEVYdance, PUSH Dance Company, and Concept o4. She has also guest performed with the San Francisco Symphony, Bellwether Dance Project, Sculpted Motion, Blind Tiger Society, Robert Moses' KIN, Dexandro Montalvo, Project Tremolo, ka-nei-see | collective, and Ziru Dance, among others.
Described as an “impressive feat” and “fiercely physicalized” by the San Francisco Chronicle, Katie’s choreography has been presented throughout the Bay Area in venues including Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Z Space, ODC Theater, CounterPulse, Fort Mason, Dance Mission Theater, Joe Goode Annex, Piano Fight, The Cutting Ball Theater, Yerba Buena Gardens, Golden Gate Park's Music Concourse, SF Public Library, The Bindery, the SF War Memorial's Green Room, DZINE, the Exploratorium and Code and Canvas. She choreographed two evening-length works with dance theatre company Brickabrack from 2012-2014, was the Resident Choreographer of PUSH Dance Company from 2014-2016, and was the JuMP Commissioned Choreographer for FACT/SF in 2016.
Katie is committed to seeking new ways to make dance engaging and accessible to wider audiences. In 2016, she worked as a movement and industry consultant for a new mobile dance game app called Jounce. From 2017-2018, her work was commissioned by the California Academy of Sciences to be presented at their after-hours event, NightLife. In the fall of 2017, Katie was commissioned to create the first dance work presented by Pop-Up Magazine, a live literary magazine, which toured to 6-cities throughout the nation, culminating in a performance at Lincoln Center.
Katie’s passion for advancing the field of dance extends beyond just her artistry. Her dedication to arts administration and marketing is exemplified by her five-year tenure at Alonzo King LINES Ballet. As the LINES Ballet Training Program Coordinator, she enthusiastically supported the growth and shaping of young pre-professional artists. As Digital Strategist, she re-envisioned the organization’s social media and online presence, emphasizing the importance of accessibility, trust, and storytelling. In this role, she had the privilege of working with VaynerMedia, through the support of Bloomberg Philanthropies and the Doris Duke Foundation, on a 6-month one-on-one arts marketing and social media consultation. She continues to support various art institutions throughout the Bay Area in their digital engagement and storytelling efforts.
Katie is a recipient of Dance/USA's Institute for Leadership Training mentorship 2019-2020 and a selected participant of APAP's Emerging Leadership Institute Class of 2020. She was invited to Asylum Arts' first Bay Area Jewish Artist retreat in 2019. She is a mentee for the 2020 WOCA Leadership through Mentorship (LTM) Program and a selected choreographer for ODC's Sandbox Series 2020 and Joe Goode's The Feedback 2020. She's been invited to speak at the Jewish Federations of America's FedPro 2021 Opening Plenary, Chlo & Co's Tabled Series: Race and Identity, and moderated a panel discussion on "The Shift to Shared Leadership" for Dance/USA's Annual Conference 2021.
Learn more about Katie's work:
- Interview with Andrea Mulbauer for "Dance Like Everyone's Watching" podcast
- Alumni feature by Princeton University's Anthropology Department
- Feature on TRIPLE TAKE in San Francisco Classical Voice by Lou Fancher
- "Going Bicoastal..." article with Dancers' Group on RAWdance and TRIPLE TAKE by Sarah Chenoweth
- "Dance/USA Institute for Leadership Training Pair: Katerina Wong and Amy Miller" by Lisa Traiger
Photo by Erin Brethauer for Pop-Up Magazine