Director / Choreographer / Producer

Kathleen Rea is a graduate of the National Ballet School and has danced with Ballet Jörgen Canada, the National Ballet of Canada and Tiroler Landestheater. In 2000, Kathleen formed REAson d'être productions, an organization that umbrellas her artistic endeavors.

An extreme, honest and layered mover and thinker, Kathleen Rea has emerged as a riveting choreographic presence. Her work is "fabulously original" [Sheena Wilson, www.danceinsider.com] . Kathleen's individuality of expression stems from her varied background, which includes ballet, modern, contact improvisation, and dance theatre and is influenced by the multi-disciplinary art techniques involved in Expressive Arts. These elements combine to create a unique artistic voice that is focused, spontaneous and expressive.

Her work was mentioned in the Now Magazine Top Ten Dance Shows of 2002 as being "Imaginative, richly theatrical...with a clown inspired whimsy...a delight" (Glenn Sumi). Kathleen's full-length ballet, the Velveteen Rabbit, has been performed by Ballet Jorgen Canada on tour across North America and her award winning film Lapinthrope directed and produced by Alec Kinnear premiered at international festivals world wide and recently aired on Bravo!Canada television network. Kathleen's most recent choreographic work was IRE set on a cast of six female dancers and performed as part of her dance series VIVID (2006). She also acted as choreographic facilitator for Euphoria, a youth based play exploring gender produced by Gender Play through CTYS's Pride and Prejudice Program.