Kristen Daley (BFA/MFA) is an Emeritus Professor of Dance at Sonoma State University. She served on the faculty in the Department of Theatre & Dance at SSU for 22 years, co-directing the Dance Program for 15 of those years and chairing the department for five. She toured Europe, Canada, and much of the United States for eight years with the critically acclaimed, Bessie Award–winning Doug Elkins Dance Company (NYC). Kristen has also worked with CALI & CO Dance (Christine Cali), Mark Haim, Locate Performance Group (Seattle, WA), Nancy Lyons, Matthew Nash, Mercy Sidbury, Gus Solomons Jr. Dance (NYC), and Nichele Van Portfleet. She was a member of the Chamber Dance Company in Seattle, WA, performing works by Isadora Duncan, Hanya Holm, Hannah Kahn, Murray Louis, Susan Marshall, Bebe Miller, Mark Morris, and Anna Sokolow. She has been a guest artist at Girls Preparatory School, Ohio University, New York University/Tisch School of the Arts, Dance Works Rotterdam, and Summerdance Santa Barbara. Kristen is a founding member of SoCo Dance Theater in Sonoma County, California. Her work has been presented at ACDA’s West Gala Concert, Dance Mission Theater, Spreckels Performing Arts Center, Santa Rosa Junior College, El Molino Performing Arts Center, the Museum of Sonoma County, and Sonoma State University. In 2023, Kristen founded PlayGROUND Dance Collective with performers, educators, and choreographers who call Sonoma County home. PlayGROUND is dedicated to uplifting, supporting, and tending to all dance forms as vehicles for collective care, health, and well-being. Kristen received her BFA from Ohio University and her MFA from the University of Washington.