About Kara

Short and Sweet Bio

Described by the New Yorker as “having brown curls, bright eyes, kiddish exuberance and looking like the heroine of a children’s book, Really Rosie meets Olivia the Pig,” Kara Tatelbaum brings full-out dancer energy to all of her endeavors. She tries like hell not to pigeon-hole herself—striving for a life of authenticity, grace, and humor. As a sought-after teacher and coach, Kara empowers others to hold on, let go, realize, and expand their own dreams. You can find her spotlight center-stage or cheering from the audience. Turns out she’s comfortable both places.

Kara lives in NYC with her husband and two children. (Half of that sentence is still a total shock!)

Long-winded Bio

Kara Tatelbaum brings her whole self as dancer, choreographer, teacher, coach, writer, and caregiver to all of her endeavors. 

She has enjoyed a wide-ranging performance and teaching career in NYC and abroad. She earned her BFA in Dance as a University Honors Scholar from Tisch School of the Arts at NYU and MFA in Choreography with a Teaching Assistantship from The Conservatory of Dance at SUNY Purchase. 

Encouraged by her early teachers, Kara began choreographing at a young age. Her company independentdancemaker| Kara Tatelbaum was created in 2000 and presented by venues including Dancenow/NYC (where she also served as Managing Director), Dance New Amsterdam, Danspace Project, Duke Theater, Gibney Center, Joyce SoHo, Symphony Space, and the Shanghai Expo.   

Kara also teaches dance extensively—from toddlers to seniors—her unique teaching style enhanced by her own experience with injury, recovery, and prevention. Kara created the dance program for School of Holy Child Rye (5th-12th grade) where she served as lead dance teacher for ten years. She’s also taught and held residencies at Ballet Arts Studio (Beacon, NY), Brown University, Dance New Amsterdam, Education Through Music, Gibney Dance Center, Millbrook School, NYSSSA, Ryeneck High School, Shattuck St.Mary School (MN), and SUNY Purchase.  

After suffering from painful injuries, including two hip surgeries, Kara turned to Pilates to pay the bills. During this time, she earned her Mat Certification from Power Pilates (after initially failing due to a nasty margarita hangover) and Reformer Certification from Pilates Academy International and began teaching extensively for major fitness chains, corporations, and private clients. 

Over the next fifteen years, Kara became one of the most sought-after Pilates instructors, teaching extensively all over Manhattan. As an in-demand instructor, at one point she taught the most Pilates classes of any NYC Crunch instructor. She's also been on staff at Clay, Club H, New York Health and Racquet Club, NYU Coles Gym, New York Yoga, the Y, and corporate clients include Penguin Publishing, Saatchi and Saatchi, and Time Inc.  

Kara is also certified in Poolates and is the creator of Barrelates, her own class designed combining Ballet Barre with traditional mat exercises. Kara has been recently featured in many national publications such as TODAY.com, Forbes.com, GoodHousekeeping.com, ReadersDigest.com and StyleCaster.com, among others. 

As a busy mother of two, Kara was inspired to create Lazy Girl Pilates, inspiring women everywhere to fit Pilates into their life using quick and easy workouts that can be integrated into any busy schedule. She published the first installment of her Lazy Girl Pilates book series, Lazy Girl Pilates: Morning, which eliminates the need to wake up early for a workout or skip it all together when you don't have time. 

In 2020, Kara earned her certification as a Wellness + Resilience Coach from the Academy for Creative Coaching. Navigating her own storms and setbacks including her husband’s sudden Stage IV colon cancer diagnosis, inspired her to anchor others. With personal experience under her belt, she’s dedicated to helping people discover new direction, maintain a positive quality of life during an uncertain time, and find their power.

Kara uses her unique skill set as a choreographer and coach to support a diverse range of clients—from cancer caregivers to dancers seeking career change, along with school visits, faculty meetings, PTA assemblies, and middle/high school student—in individual and group settings.

Kara calls upon her creative skills to direct and problem solve rather than blindly dance through life. Having her own share of setbacks has taught her to find power during uncertain times. Now she partners with others do the same.