Karley Childress is originally from Memphis, TN where she began her dance journey at a local competition dance studio, Dance Dynamics. There, she studied ballet, tap, jazz, acro, lyrical and hip hop under "So You Think You Can Dance" finalist, Natalie Fotopoulos. In 2014, Karley began taking ballet classes, alongside Dance Dynamics, at Collage Dance Collective with Kevin Thomas to broaden her understanding of classical ballet technique. Around this same time, Karley began to supplement her training by attending ballet intensives during her summers. In 2015, she attended CPYB’s 5-week intensive.
Karley’s steady dedication to her training led her to begin exclusively train with Ballet Memphis in 2015, where she studied classical ballet and modern under Janet Parke and Brandon and Virginia Ramey. At Ballet Memphis Karley participated in many school showcases as well as performed in the company’s production of Steven McMahon’s, "Romeo and Juliet." Ballet Memphis also allowed Karley to tap into her choreography skills. Here she was asked to choreograph four new works for the school: “Human First” (2018), “Hometown Glory”( 2018), “There Will Be Time”( 2018) and “Tweet Tweet, Tick-Tock, AHHH” (2019). In 2016, she attended Summer Dance Session’s 1 week intensive under Sonya Tayeh, and in 2017 she attended Milwaukee Ballet’s 6 week intensive.
Karley finished her last year at Ballet Memphis in 2020 and then decided to continue her dance training at UNCSA. Through her studies at UNCSA she was exposed to several techniques and styles including: counter-technique, Cunningham and Limón. Here she has performed many works by Ming-Lung Yang, Gina Patterson, Amyia Burrell, Anthony Lee Bryant, Wesley Williams, Eddie Shellz, Andrew Harper, and José Limón’s “Concerto Gross” set by Sean Sullivan. In addition to dance, Karley also shares a passion for editing and film.
Academically, Karley takes her studies very seriously and finished in the top 10% of her high school class. She was also in Beta Club, National Honors Society, Spanish Club and a student led organization called R.O.S.E.S. Upon receiving her B.F.A. in contemporary dance in May of 2024, Karley hopes to continue her journey of dance by joining a company then soon exploring/exposing more of her love for choreography.