Karen Brown spent 22 years as a principal ballerina, master teacher, and lecturer with the Dance Theatre of Harlem (DTH) under the direction of the iconic founder, Arthur Mitchell. . Ms. Brown has been certified as an ABT® Teacher in Pre-Primary through Level 7; 1st, 2nd and 3rd years of the Vaganova Syllabus, and Level 1, 2 and 3 in the classical ballet innovation, McLeod Technique Reinforced Motor Function for Ballet Application (RMF) founded by Black movement developer Sean McLeod. Brown was the first Black Director of a national ballet company as she served as Artistic Director of Oakland Ballet Company in California (2000 – 2006). Ms. Brown has received numerous awards, including the New York Institute of Dance & Education Harriet Tubman Freedom Award in 2010 and the “New York Dance and Performance Award, ”The Bessie”; for Sustained Achievement in Performance” as a company member with Paradigm, Dance Legends in Concert . Karen founded Karenina, Inc and then En Pointe Plus Dance Mastery Institute (EPP). She was a transitional Executive Director for Garth Fagan Dance in Rochester, New York and Guest Artistic Director of Ballet Wichita in Wichita, Kansas where she commissioned Black classical ballet director and choreographer Sean McLeod to set a new Nutcracker adaptation on 44 year old Midwest Ballet company, a historic decision. In fall 2020, she was hired as a new Assistant Professor of Ballet at the University of Missouri Kansas City Conservatory. In 2023, Karen Brown received a New York Dance Festival Choreographic Fellowship, at The School of American Ballet, Lincoln Center.