Karah Haug
“Karah is a senior at Stevens this year, and is an amazing athlete, dancer, person, humbly and without really being aware of it! In our May performance, she was hard to distinguish from dancers who are at a professional level. This summer she danced with RDT (repertory dance theatre) in Salt Lake City, and trained with Aaron Wood, former RDT pro and faculty at UW and Idaho State U, in his master classes. She was also a key participant in Flutter Production’s Osity July performance with Black Hills Workshop, a full-scale mixed-ability production. Karah will be on stage again October 7 and 8 in Flutter Productions performances of ABLE: The Disability Chronicles. She is a member of our Ekphrasis student-led company, who performs solely to benefit Lifeways, a substance abuse prevention program serving middle and high school students in the area. Company members also choreograph the pieces they perform.
I think one of her best superpowers is her ability to experiment and just be who she is in her dancing, giving all of her performances an authenticity and pure joy. Her movement articulation is exceptionally clean, as one would enunciate words with precision. She is genuine, compassionate and caring, with a connection to the planet and geography, as well as animals and nature. She just finished a photo shoot in Badlands National Park with Dance Across the USA for a book that will feature National Parks in all fifty states. She has been an active participant with the Passage of Wind and Water project under the direction of Sara Olivier, in collaboration with Yuki Nagase and Arts Rapid City.”
– Academy of Dance Director Julie McFarland
“Karah is also an accomplished violinist and has been a student of Black Hills Suzuki School since she was five years old. She and her younger brother play their violins at Hospice House of the Black Hills a few times each month during the school year for the residents and their families and friends.
When she is not at school, dancing or playing her violin, Karah’s favorite activities are hiking with her dog, riding her bike, and spending time with her friends. This summer, she and her family participated in RAGBRAI, which is a weeklong bicycle ride from the Missouri River to the Mississippi River across the state of Iowa.”
– Kim Haug, mom
Photos by Kevin Eilbeck Photography