Kathleen Helm Ford
Dance Lecturer
Contact Information
- Office: Bldg. 60-8A
- Phone: 805-756-1169
- Email: khford@calpoly.edu
About Kathleen Helm Ford
Kathleen Helm Ford is a Part-Time Lecturer in the Theatre and Dance Department, teaching courses in Ballet and Jazz Dance. She received her M.A. in Dance Education with a K-12 teaching credential from Hunter College, M.F.A. in Dance from CSU Long Beach, and B.S. in Recreation Administration and Minor in Dance from Cal Poly. Kathleen was a dancer in Chicago’s Deeply Rooted Dance Theater, and she has performed in works by Rebecca Bryant, Kevin Iega Jeff, Gary Abbott, Helen Pickett, Ohad Naharin, Paul Taylor, Mike Esperanza, Robert Moses, Andrew Vaca, Gerald Casel, Melissa Younker, Diana Stanton, Lisa Deyo, and Michelle Walter. Her choreography has been presented at Chicago Freelance Dance (Hubbard Street Dance Chicago), CSU Long Beach, Cal Poly, SoCal Dance Invitational (Goldenwest College), Dance 4 the Camera Film Festival, American College Dance Festival Gala (U. of Montana), Doug Varone’s CHIN Project (92nd Street Y), Wave Rising Series (92nd Street Y), DUMBO Dance Festival (Gelsey Kirkland Center for the Arts), Split Bill (Triskelion Arts), Comedy in Dance Festival (Triskelion Arts), WAXworks (Triskelion Arts), Under Exposed (Dixon Place), 8 in Show (Dixon Place), and she was named a 2015 Breaking Glass choreographer, a platform that recognizes young and emerging female choreographers. Kathleen was a teaching artist and educator in New York City at Bank Street School for Children, Blue School, Dancewave, Mark Morris Dance Center, and the YMCA, and she continues to create work with her company, Kathleen Helm & Dancers.