It was in the blood when at the age of 2, Karen was in her element performing ballet positions on the family’s kitchen table. Karen trained at The Bev Palmer Dancers under the watchful eye of mum (Bev) in all dance styles including classical ballet, tap, jazz and musical theatre. Karen has also trained and worked with choreographers such as Tony Bartuccio, Jillian FitzGerald, Ross Coleman, David Atkins, Barbara Warren Smith and many others.
Following her training, Karen took to the professional stage and made a living as a singer/dancer for the 13 years beginning as a singer/dancer at Rembrandts Theatre restaurant. Following this Karen established a successful television career as a regular dancer at Channel Nine on such shows as: The Don Lane Show, Hey Hey Its Saturday, The Bert Newton show, The Ernie Sigley show and the Mike Walsh show. Along with the stars of these shows, Karen worked alongside notable performers including: John Farnham, Ricky May, Olivia Newton John, Chelsea Brown , Kerrie-anne Kennerly, Skyhooks, Kylie and Danni Minogue, Jon English to name just a few.Karen’s television credits also include performances on: Australian Film Awards, Australia Day Live Concerts, The Logie Awards, Countdown and several television series. Following her successful performing career, Karen turned her attention to teaching alongside Bev at the Bev Palmer Dancers and brought with her a contemporary outlook to complement the traditional styles within the school. Karen’s cutting edge choreography, attention to detail and strong production values are highly respected across Melbourne’s dance industry. Karen has choreographed and produced fashion parades for Prodigee Children’s Fashion and Designer Kidz for over 15 years. She currently choreographs and provides children for fashion parades for Westfield Shopping Centres all over Melbourne. With over 30 years as a performer and teacher in the entertainment industry, Karen now embraces the start of a new era with the evolution of the Bev Palmer Dancers into Bev Palmer Performing Arts.
