Our Origin Story
KTCO, the company, is a queer dance company celebrating the intersectionality of our identities through a feminine-centered lens. KTCO first found its footing in 2024 by choreographer Katie Corrao while at The Boston Conservatory. Here, the compulsion to begin KTCO came alive in an evening length titled An Ode To (2024). This creative process laid the groundwork for the company, placing KTCO not as a distant dream but a karmic path.
Upon graduation, Katie was invited to premiere work at Arts on Site in October 2024, marking the company’s official trajectory in New York City.
Reflecting on opening night, Corrao shared in The Artistic Tribe:
“I will never forget the turnout for our New York City debut; the show was sold out and we had people standing due to the lack of chairs. In that moment, a city that can feel vast and overwhelming became smaller and more intimate. I truly felt embraced. I now navigate the dance community understanding it as a space where people uplift one another, create, and collaborate. New York is truly a wonderful place for artists.”
Shortly after the company's debut, Katie began "SAT", a work in collaboration with co-choreographer Tricia Dietrick. At this time, Katie brought on Allison Ringelberg, Company Manager, thus forming the team that fundamentally operates KTCO!
Within the past two years, KTCO has grown into far more than a dance company, yet a community of interdisciplinary artists that offer a sanctuary to express, to shed, to indulge, and to find refuge through community engagement, open class, and creative process.
With works centering themes of identity and grief, a universally resonant ethos that binds us to one another, KTCO investigates proximity, intimacy, and the lived experience of being seen. Through the work we create, we move closer to ourselves, to each other, and to the ever-evolving dialect of dance.
KTCO is an evolving practice, a shedding, a passing, a constant state of growth.
FOUNDER
Katie Corrao
Katie Corrao is a freelance dancer, choreographer, and the founding artistic director of KTCO, the company, based in New York City. Throughout her life, she has found her most authentic voice through choreography.
Growing up as a classical musician, Corrao first accessed creation through music, an influence that continues to shape her choreographic language and sensitivity today. This lifelong dedication led her to The Boston Conservatory at Berklee, where she graduated in 2024, studied creative process with Danny McCusker, and received mentorship from Diane Arvanites. During her senior year, Corrao created her first evening-length work, An Ode To, an experience that laid the foundation for KTCO. Shortly after graduation, an excerpt of that work was invited to Arts on Site in a split bill with Cat The Coyote, initiating the company’s continued growth.
Throughout the past two years, Corrao has reached personal milestones through the creation of two full-length works that have been premiered throughout New York State, Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago, and internationally in Edmonton, Canada and Lucca, Italy. Now in her fourth season directing the company, Katie continues the upward trajectory of KTCO, beginning their season at The International Human Rights Festival in December and beginning the curation process for her fourth evening-length work in collaboration with composer Tony Tobia in January.
For Corrao, choreography is not simply the act of making dance; it is a practice of bearing witness. The formation of KTCO has brought together a community of artists willing to explore intimate, sometimes heavy subject matter with honesty and generosity. It is a lifelong commitment to feeling and being felt, trusting that, ultimately, the work speaks for itself. This work stretches beyond the rehearsal studio through accessible community open classes, creative talkbacks, and artist gatherings.