Karilyn Ashley Surratt
Ballet/Theater Jazz

Karily began her dance training in St. Louis, MO and studied at Missouri State Ballet, now Kansas City Ballet, and eventually sought a career in both dance and theatre. She graduated Summa Cum Laude from Oklahoma City University with a BPA in dance performance, with a focus on dance pedagogy and history.

She is returning to teach jazz, and leaps and turns classes at Shuffles this fall after a busy year performing across the country in Milwaukee Repertory Theater’s Guys & Dolls and Stages St. Louis’ Joseph; and right here in New York City at Symphony Space. Her year also included teaching for Stages St. Louis’ and Milwaukee Repertory Theater’s arts education programs.

Karilyn’s professional credits include Joey McKneely’s acclaimed West Side Story world tour, 10 seasons as a Rockette at Radio City Music Hall, on tour, and as the lead PR Rockette for Norwegian Cruise Line/Rockettes partnership, the sultry Arabian in Graham Lustig’s A Jazzy Nutcracker, and 16 productions at The Muny in her hometown of St. Louis, MO, including their most recent production of Oklahoma!. Her career has allowed her to work with choreographers and directors such as Olivier Award winner and Tony Award nominee Stephen Mear (Guys & Dolls at Milwaukee Rep), Tony Award Honoree Gemze de Lappe (Robbins’ The King and I; de Mille’s Oklahoma!), Tony Award winner Susan Stroman (The Merry Widow), Kelli Barclay (Anything Goes; Irving Berlin’s White Christmas), Mercedes Ellington, and the late Robert L. Reed. She has assisted her mentors, international ballet pedagogues and choreographers Madame Gabriela Darvash and Kat Wildish, in some of their New York City master classes.