Katie Gunderson-Duran
ADA Instructor,
Office Manager, P.E. Waiver & Studio Rental/Private Lesson Coordinator,
Student Teacher Assistant Program Director,

 Katie is a dance artist and educator driven by her passion for community building and the belief that dance is for everyone.
Katie earned her B.F.A. in Dance + UTeach Dance at the University of Texas, studying choreography and performance while also developing her pedagogy and personal teaching philosophy. After graduation, she moved to Portland, Oregon where she danced as a company apprentice with Polaris Dance Theatre. Upon her return to Austin in 2018, she began teaching in the Fine Arts Academy at Westwood High School, where she shared her passion for dance with her students for five years.
In 2023, she left the K-12 sphere to support her dance community on a larger scale. She works as a professional learning facilitator with MINDPOP, an educational consultant, and curriculum mentor. She is also a lecturer for the UTeach Dance program. She has been assessed as a mastery level teacher through the Texas Dance Educators Association’s DEAL, and was nominated for TDEA’s Dance Educator of the Year Award.
Katie continues to teach, dance, create, and perform. She has performed locally with Blue Lapis Light, BLiPSWiTCH, Jennifer Sherburn, Shen Jun Movement Effect, Andrea Beckham Collaborative Dance, and more. This fall, she will be performing as an aerial harness dancer in Blue Lapis Light’s Prayer for Peace.
Front office manager by day, and dance teacher in the evenings, Katie is looking forward to sharing this part of herself with the ADA family.