Gia Kourlas

Kourlas was raised in Columbus, Ohio.[2] She began dancing at age 5; a few years later, she switched to figure skating.[1] She pursued a bachelor's degree in journalism at Ohio State University, where she also worked at student newspaper The Lantern.[2] While at college, she also began taking dance classes again.

After moving to New York City in 1989,[2] Kourlas worked for New York Magazine and the Museum of Television and Radio, was an assistant to George Plimpton, and became an editor at The Paris Review.[1][2] She also took classes at the Martha Graham School.[1]

Kourlas first began writing about dance when she became the dance critic for Time Out New York in 1995.[2] She continued writing for the publication until they eliminated the position in 2015.[3][4] In 2016, Kourlas began producing a weekly dance series for The New York Times' Instagram, called #SpeakingInDance.[1][2] In August 2019, Kourlas was made a full-time dance critic for The New York Times; she had written pieces on dance for the publication since 2000.[1][2] She has also written for Dance Magazine.[5]

Kourlas has said she wants her writing to make dance more accessible to the public,[2] and as such she has written about dance in popular culture.[1] Kourlas was also one of the earlier critics to note the lack of diversity in major American dance companies.[1][6] In 2016, she was a resident fellow of NYU's Center for Ballet and the Arts, during which she focused on studying diversity and the presence of Black dancers in the world of classical ballet.[7] Kourlas has also written about the #MeToo movement and feminism in the dance world.[2]