Kathryn Gapasin
Toronto Artistic Director

Kat was born in South Korea and moved to Ottawa when she was four. She moved to Toronto in 2006 to continue her Nursing career, and has since become Culture Shock Toronto’s (CSTO) current Artistic Director. Kat is a strong and passionate leader, who tempers her professionalism and ambitious choreography with kindness and (occasional) goofiness.

She took her first hip hop class in her first year at Queen's university and fell in love with it instantly. During her four years there, she involved herself in any and every opportunity related to hip hop: she choreographed the hip hop scene for the Vogue Fashion Show for Charity for two years; became a member of Queen's Dance Team, performing half time shows for the Varsity Basketball team; became a dance instructor for Queen's Dance Club and taught advanced level hip hop classes for three years; and she joined Q-Kids (Queen's Break dancing crew) in her final year.

Kat heard about Culture Shock (CS) after graduating in 2003, when she stumbled upon CS Ottawa's website. After that, Kat very quickly became part of the CS family: she took a class, auditioned for the troupe, was asked to go to San Diego to perform with CS Ottawa, and, only five months later, was asked to become CS Ottawa’s Artistic Director. Kat directed CS Ottawa for two years before moving to Toronto and taking on the role of Artistic Director for CSTO.

CS has given Kat many indelible memories: from going to San Diego the very first time and realizing that she was a part of a worldwide organization and family; to getting chills watching Jabbawockeez and CS San Diego perform. Despite the hard work, she most enjoys seeing her dancers grow, improve, and become amazing and brilliant dancers!

CS has motivated, influenced and inspired Kat to continuously become a better dancer. CS has helped her to develop valuable skills such as leadership, commitment, dedication, and compassion to guide her through all aspects of her life. Also, if it weren’t for CS, Kat would have never met the love of her life (you can call her Kat, or Mrs. Gapasin, if you’re nasty).