Meet Our Company Members: Katie Montoya

Tell us about yourself and how did you become a part of Treehouse Shakers? How long have you been with the company? What is your role(s) with the company? I heard about Treehouse Shakers from an audition posting. When I researched the company I could tell it would be a great fit for me and was so excited to be welcomed into the company. This is my 6th season performing with Treehouse Shakers.

Katie in Olive & Pearl at BAM Fisher. Photographer Christopher Duggan

What has been your favorite role to play?

I've had so much fun being apart of the making of Olive and Pearl. Playing Olive is all about being young and just having fun, and it's such a blast sharing the stage with wonderful performers like Miranda and Anthony.

Tell us about a favorite audience moment you’ve had as a performer. One of my favorite audience moments is playing the lamb in Hatched. The audience loves to feed the baby lamb her bottle, and there's always lots of hugs for Lambie. There's so much gentleness and true compassion in the kids when they meet the lamb, it's very endearing to be apart of that moment.

Katie Montoya with Lambie at Ailey Studio Theater, Photographer Christopher Duggan

What makes Treehouse Shakers work unique or different than other companies you might have worked with? The best thing about Treehouse Shakers' work is its originality. Mara and Emily make shows that they would love to watch themselves and each performance shows off their imagination and creativity while encouraging the audience to use their own imaginations.

Katie in Under the Tangle, Photographer, Christopher Duggan

What does it mean to celebrate 20 years with Treehouse Shakers? I'm so happy to see that a company like treehouse shakers has had so much influence on the children and schools of New York City for so long. They have been a steady presence in the arts and education world for young audiences and will continue spreading their magic at a time when audiences need it most.

Anything Else You would like us to know? I'm so grateful to Mara and Emily for making Treehouse Shakers a family. They lead together with grace, friendship, and love and it truly shows in the work we produce as a company. About Katie Montoya

Katie Montoya is a native of Santa Fe, New Mexico and attended the University of California, Irvine where she received a B.A. in dance and drama in 2011. Her studies took her to many parts of the world, including Ecuador with Dramatic Adventure Theater in 2009, and Ghana, West Africa in 2010 where she studied both traditional and contemporary African dance with the Ghana Dance Ensemble.  She is currently in her fifth season with Sarah Berges Dance, a bicoastal modern dance company. Other company credits include Arcos Dance and Beth Soll and Company.  Montoya recently became a certified Pilates instructor under the instruction of Roberta Kirschenbaum. She is very grateful for her early training at the National Dance Institute of New Mexico. Katie is thrilled to be performing her 6th season with Treehouse Shakers touring in all of their current repertory.