Originally from Victoria, Texas, Katelyn Perez is an MFA in Dance candidate on the performance track at the University of Iowa and holds a BFA from Sam Houston State University. As a performer, researcher, and choreographer, her investigations explore gesture as a method to migrate deeply in our continuously changing bodies to bring to the forefront lived histories to achieve a more conscious understanding of our identities. Her work examines the body as a site of adaptation, negotiating identity, isolation, and cultural hybridity through movement and autoethnography. Her piece "ceaseless" was nominated for the 2021 South-Central ACDA Conference, and she was selected to teach two masterclasses at the 2023 North-Central ACDA Conference. While at UIowa, she has performed works by Joshua Manculich, Danielle Russo, Zena Bibler, Stephanie Miracle, and Melinda Myers and is a performer and collaborator with danceLAB, a collective led by Brenda Tally and Michael Landez (LandezArts) that fosters community among emerging dance makers through socially informed, process-driven artistic inquiry. She has served as a dramaturg and rehearsal assistant for Danielle Russo’s "third floor up, second door on the right with the double-pane, south-facing window" and was the rehearsal director for the University of Iowa’s restaging of Martha Graham’s "Panorama" under Graham 2 Director Virginie Mécène.