Cara Cook grew up in Woodstock, Georgia, and received her training from the Georgia Ballet School. She went on to perform with the Georgia Ballet’s professional company for its 2012-2013 season. Cara studied Anthropology and Dance at Oberlin College and graduated in 2017. She also trained at Hubbard Street Dance Chicago and American Dance Festival. In Austin, Cara has performed in works by Chaddick Dance Theater, Early Era Collective, and Jahna Bobolia. She has been a member of Kathy Dunn Hamrick Dance Company since 2018 and has loved every minute of it. Outside of the dance studio, Cara is a patient care coordinator at Mind Body Physiotherapy where she helps people discover how PT can help them live pain-free lives. Cara is constantly challenged, inspired, and delighted while working with Kathy and the other company members and feels so lucky to be part of the KDH fam.

Anna Bauer is a choreographer and dancer living in Austin, Texas. Since graduating with her BFA in Dance from Sam Houston State University in 2021, she has danced for the Kathy Dunn Hamrick Dance Company while maintaining a personal focus on choreography. Events across Texas and beyond have been kind enough to include her pieces in their lineup: most recently Austin Dance Festival, Barnstorm Dance Festival, Texas Dance Improvisation Festival, and various local concerts produced by Austin artists such as ZATERO Dance, Emily Rushing, Carissa Topham, and Jahna Bobolia. When she is not dancing, Anna enjoys reading, roasting veggies, and drinking coffee (not necessarily in that order).

Alyson Dolan has been recognized by The Austin Chronicle for her “stamina, concentration, and big jar of real that she brings to the potluck.” Her approach to dance making and performance is motivated by a desire to experience movement invention, a heightened awareness of sensation, play and playfulness with others, and deep listening in the choreographic process. Interest in performance as authentic expression and being witnessed as a means to a deeper sense of presence are both important to her ongoing movement research. Dolan is on faculty at Café Dance and St Edward’s University, is in her 12th season with Kathy Dunn Hamrick Dance Company (woo!), is an original member of the Austin Soundpainting Collective directed by Andrea Ariel, and regularly presents her own work (often in collaboration with composer Drew Silverman and a group of Austin movement badasses). Alyson and Drew were recently commissioned by Sarasota Contemporary Dance in Florida to create an evening-length work alongside SCD’s Artistic Director Leymis Bolaños Wilmott, a long-time friend and collaborator of the duo’s. Their new creation will premiere in January of 2024 in Sarasota with seven dancers, two musicians and enveloping projection design. Alyson admires the originality of Austin’s artists and is thrilled to be heading towards twelve years with this community of movers and shakers.

Jairus Carr is a local dancer, choreographer, and artist who has been in the Austin area since 2007. With a B.S. in Business Management from WGU which has served him very little, Jairus has trained and danced with many persons and companies in the Austin Area—to name a few: Early Era Collective, Blue Lapis Light, Jennifer Sherburn, and, of course, Kathy Dunn Hamrick Dance Company. Jairus’s work and choreography have been showcased at many events across Texas. Jairus continues to explore movement, choreography, and every medium he can make time for, all in Austin, TX.

Carissa Topham has been an enthusiastic KDH company member since way back in 2010. During her time as a company dancer over the last decade (plus) she continues to define, refine and then redefine who she is as a mover and creative thinker. Her goal as an artist is to be intentional with her choices, and prioritize the how and the why, over the simple what. Carissa is also a Pilates teacher at local studio Shape Method, where she enjoys applying her love for dissecting movement in a very practical and functional way. She has choreographed several works with dance pal Emily Rushing which have been seen in Austin Dance Festival, this most recent Dance Carousel, and in their own show, “SMORG”. Carissa holds her BFA in dance from the University of North Texas, and her Pilates certification through STOTT Pilates. When she’s not in the studio, you can find her at home doing the mom thing with her adorable/amazing family, or in any local thrift store buying up all the goodies.