Dancing at the Next Level
Recent theatre and dance alum Katrina Binks ’24’s early success includes staging choreographic work at the Women In Dance Choreographic Leadership Conference.By: Caitie Marsella ’25 Thursday, May 8, 2025 02:10 PM
photo by Alex McAuleyKatrina Binks ’24 began dancing in April as a part of JV2, a Professional Development Diploma program of the Jasmin Vardimon dance theatre company, in Ashford, Kent, in England. The highly selective, six-month program gives dancers the opportunity to work alongside the company’s professional touring corps. Dancers in the program learn company repertoire, collaborate with guest choreographers, and perform throughout the United Kingdom, while honing dance theatre techniques and methods.
JV2 is just the latest of Binks’s accomplishments since graduation. She made her postgraduate choreographic debut at the Women In Dance Choreographic Leadership Conference, October 17-19, 2024, for which she was selected from among 1,600 applicants across 35 countries. Her dancework, titled "Red Roses For You!!! They could be poison ivy, they might be poison oak, But anyway here is your bouquet!" had previously been featured in Muhlenberg’s “Reset: New Dances” concert in November 2023 and the ACDA National Conference in 2024.
[Left: Production photo from “Red Roses For You!!!…,” by Katrina Binks, from “Reset: New Dances 2023.” Photo by Marco Calderon.]
Binks says the international conference created a bridge between her college experience and her professional career, and gave her a chance to showcase not just her choreography, but the talents of other Muhlenberg dancers. The Women in Dance restaging featured Muhlenberg dancers Alyssa Kaplan ’25, and Madelyn Kroeper ’27, Paige Majewski ’24, Hannah Scarlatoiu ’26, Hailey Smith ’26, and Lexy Widi ’26.
The piece itself draws inspiration from complex narratives about obsessive love relationships. The choreography plays with time, starting at the end of the story and taking the audience back to the beginning to showcase the cyclical patterns found within destructive relationships. Binks’s program note calls the piece the story of “monstrous, alluring, loving, possessive beings rope another victim into their shiny, beautifully polished clutches.”
“I’ve never heard of a school in the arts that embraces a student’s individuality so fully.”
— Katrina Binks ’24
Binks says Muhlenberg’s dance program was instrumental in shaping her path as a choreographer, by supporting her artistic vision and giving her freedom to explore.
“I’ve never heard of a school in the arts that embraces a student’s individuality so fully,” Binks says. “As a choreographer with that in mind, when it came to creating I had basically a free open space to do whatever I wanted to do, and I wasn’t constricted by anything or held back from reaching my full potential as a creator.”
Binks has also appeared in the TV pilot “Lotusland,” and will appear as a dancer in an upcoming music video for Kevin Olusola, best known for his work in Pentatonix. She also performed in Ehizoje Azeke’s piece “CONNECT” for Earl Mosley’s annual New York City concert, Dancing Beyond, in partnership with the Dance Against Cancer Foundation.
“It’s funny because a fellow dancer and friend who didn’t go to Muhlenberg told me the other day that every single dancer she meets at Muhlenberg she loves because they are always so creative and interesting,” Binks says. “And I think that basically sums up what Muhlenberg allows for their artistic students, is the opportunity to be creative and try out unique ideas with full support. At Muhlenberg, it’s never been a question of ‘Can I do this?’ but ‘How can I make this happen?’ And whenever I’ve asked that question my peers and teachers are immediately there to provide that positive energy that makes those ideas into a reality.”
About the Muhlenberg College Theatre & Dance Department
Muhlenberg offers Bachelor of Arts degrees in theatre and dance. The Princeton Review ranked Muhlenberg’s theatre program in the top twelve in the nation for eight years in a row, and Fiske Guide to Colleges lists both the theatre and dance programs among the top small college programs in the United States. Muhlenberg is one of only eight colleges to be listed in Fiske for both theatre and dance.
About Muhlenberg College
Founded in 1848, Muhlenberg is a highly selective, private liberal arts college offering baccalaureate and graduate programs. With an enrollment of nearly 2,000 students, Muhlenberg College is dedicated to shaping creative, compassionate, collaborative leaders through rigorous academic programs in the arts, humanities, natural sciences and social sciences; selected preprofessional programs, including accounting, business, education and public health; and progressive workforce-focused post-baccalaureate certificates and master’s degrees. Located in Allentown, Pennsylvania, approximately 90 miles west of New York City, Muhlenberg is a member of the Centennial Conference, competing in 23 varsity sports. Muhlenberg is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
