Kaley Pruitt
- About
Biography
Kaley Pruitt Ozminkowski teaches Modern, Ballet, Jazz and Composition at ISU. She is originally from Ketchum, Idaho and attended Idyllwild Arts Academy. Kaley will graduate with her MFA in Dance & Choreography from the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee in June 2020 and has her BFA in Dance from Florida State University. Pruitt performed in New York City with various companies including Leanne Schmidt & Company, Kaleidoscope Dance Theatre, Megan Sipe, Mary Angelo, and Natalia Duong alongside directing her company, Kaley Pruitt Dance. Pruitt’s choreography investigates nuances of the human experience and explores the intrinsic communication between bodies in space. Her choreographic work spans from comedic dance theater to abstract concert aesthetic to interactive site-specific performance. Alongside Kaley Pruitt Dance, she’s recently performed for Esme Boyce, Rose Hutchins, and Maggi Dueker. Pruitt’s choreography has been presented at Austin Dance Festival, WIM Dance Festival, ACDA, Dixon Place (NYC), University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, Illinois State University, Manhattan Movement & Arts Center (NYC), Triskelion Arts (NYC), Center for Performance Research (NYC), Ketchum Arts Commission, and Movement Research (NYC). More information at www.KaleyPruittDance.com
Research Interests & Areas
Pruitt's research focuses primarily on kinesthetic empathy, interactivity in performance studies, and embodied civic discourse. She also explores identity formation, application of somatic practice in dance, choreography and psychology of protest, and the body/movement’s role in social change. She is currently researching interactivity in performance and its capacity to inspire kinesthetic empathy and serve as a catalyst for community action. Pruitt is interested in looking at embodiment across contemporary social movements and dance works that disrupts the flow of normative public discourse and upends social constructs and assumptions.