Kat Files,
Director of Education

Kat Files is a Birmingham, Alabama native where she began formal training at the Alabama School of Fine Arts. She is a graduate of the Ailey/Fordham BFA Program in Dance, where she was a 4-year Glorya Kaufman Foundation Dance Scholar. Upon graduation, Kat had the pleasure of working with a plethora of companies and artists such as Felice Lesser Dance Theater, Matheta Dance, Elisa Monte Dance, Germaul Barnes/Viewsic Dance, Sidra Bell, and EMERGE125. Kat is the Executive Director of The F.I.L.E.S. Arts Project, a 501(c)(3) non-profit arts organization, located in Birmingham. The organization was born out of her desire to provide training in dance techniques, music instruction, performance opportunities and more to underserved communities. Kat has been a dance instructor at Lake Placid School of Dance in Lake Placid NY, the Police Athletic League in NYC, Repertory Company High School for Theatre Arts in Manhattan, NY, the EMERGE125 - Emerging Artist Summer Series in Lake Placid, NY, Elisa Monte Dance Summer Series in Lake Placid, NY, Youth Arts Academy in Brooklyn, NY, Samford University in Birmingham, AL, the University of Connecticut at Stamford, Rowlett Dance Academy Summer Motion Camp in Dallas, Texas, and The Ailey School to name a few. Kat is a Teaching Artist for the Misty Copeland Foundation BE BOLD Initiative and The Ailey Arts In Education program as well. Alongside dancing and teaching, Kat enjoys modeling and acting. As a performing artist, she has earned her SAG-AFTRA and Equity memberships, and is represented by Parts Models. Kat is proud to be a founding Company Dancer with EMERGE125 in NYC!