Katie McCaughan (Executive Director) a native of Chicago, is a dance artist, performer, and educator who received her Master’s Degree in Dance Education from New York University. In 2002, she completed a BFA in Dance from Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, Washington. and became an active member of the Seattle dance community where she regularly juggled the diverse roles of performer, administrator, producer, and teacher. The hub of her activity took place at Velocity Dance Center, one of the busiest and most innovative contemporary dance spaces in the northwestern U.S. Since then Katie has been committed to an ongoing study of contemporary dance technique, composition, improvisation, contemplative dance practice, authentic movement, and choreographed and improvised performance. Katie is a certified SOMA practitioner and certified Simonson teacher whose somatic and teaching practices are grounded in the notion of the body as symbol, vessel, and home. Katie served for six years as the Director of Dance at Episcopal School of Jacksonville and is currently an Adjunct Professor of Dance at Jacksonville University and Florida State College at Jacksonville. In 2019, Katie graduated from the National Arts Strategies ‘Executive in Arts and Cultural Strategies Program’ through the University of Pennsylvania’s school of Social Policy and Practice. A co-founder of JDT, she serves as the company’s Executive Director.