Originally from Victoria, Texas, Katelyn Perez is a performer, choreographer, and researcher pursuing an MFA in Dance at the University of Iowa. She holds a BFA from Sam Houston State University. Grounded in autoethnography, she investigates how movement embodies the experience of existing between spaces geographically, culturally, and socially while interrogating the physical and visible impacts of being a lone body within a majority. Her research engages polyattentiveness, bodily archives, and choreographic structures that reflect the necessity of adaptation within ever-shifting sociopolitical landscapes.

As a performer, she has worked with choreographers such as Danielle Russo, Zena Bibler, Stephanie Miracle, Melinda Myers, and Joshua Manculich. She served as rehearsal director for the University of Iowa Dance Department’s restaging of Panorama, originally choreographed by Martha Graham. Under the guidance of Graham 2 Director Virginie Mécène, she restaged the work on over 30 UIowa dancers, ensuring the preservation of Graham’s legacy. Additionally, she conducted a research project for UI Dance Company members, using storytelling, reflective movement prompts, and archival research to explore students' encounters with Martha Graham’s work through an embodied narrative.

At the University of Iowa, she has also 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, supporting the work’s conceptual and physical development. Recently, she has been a member of the danceLAB collective, an initiative led by Brenda Tally and Michael Landez (LandezArts). As a performer and collaborator within the collective, Katelyn contributed to the development of contemporary works alongside other emerging artists, engaging in a process-driven environment that prioritized intellectual and physical exploration.