Karen McKinlay Kurnaedy was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and is a second generation settler of Scottish heritage. She is a dancer, writer, and educator. She began her dance training in the 1960s at The Hanova School of Modern Studies in Body Sculpture and the Classical Dance, the first modern dance school in Vancouver, where she was forever imbued with the spirit of Duncan, Dalcroze, Laban, Wigman, and Menaka.
Karen’s work as a writer includes publishing several essays, articles, and books about dance and dance education. Karen received her Bachelor of Education with distinction from the University of Alberta and also earned a Master of Arts and a Doctorate in Philosophy from Simon Fraser University. Her teaching experience includes thirty years in the Coquitlam School District, being a Faculty Associate and instructing in the Graduate Diploma program at Simon Fraser University. Her interests lie in promoting and implementing new ideas for education, the arts, dance history, and dance education.