I began my professional dance career as a founding company member of Rochester City Ballet (formerly Draper Dance Theater) under the artistic direction of Timothy Draper. While I had every intention of continuing in this profession, at 19 years old, I made the difficult decision to leave dance and pursue other academic and career interests. I completed a BA in Psychology and a Masters in Social Work and began working in the mental health field. Shortly after I began my clinical work as a psychotherapist, I joined the faculty at the Timothy M. Draper Center for Dance Education. By 2005, I realized I wanted to follow my passion for dance and teaching. Little did I know that this realization would propel me back to graduate school for an MFA in Dance, reignite my performance career, and push me to new discoveries as an educator and artist. I have had amazing opportunities to perform with Bill Evans Dance Company, Present Tense Dance, Biodance, and Anne Burnidge and Dancers. I have also performed works by Larry Keigwin, Mariah Maloney, Marina Mascarell, Paul Selwyn Norton, Doug Varone, Mark Morris, Brit Falcon, Heidi Latsky, and José Limón and was a guest artist with Heather Roffe Dance and Treeline Danceworks (Lyndsey Vader and Jenny Miller). I have had the opportunity to choreograph works for several universities and created KDiehl Danceworks (formerly Rochester Dance Project), a project-based company, ultimately presenting at the national and international level. 

Some of the highlights of my performance/choreography career include opportunities to perform at Jacob's Pillow for two summers as a member of the Bill Evans Dance Company and presenting/performing my work during the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2017. In 2023 and 2019,  my pieces, Shadows and Light and Inner Workings, were Gala selections during the Northwest Regional American College Dance Association Conferences and in June 2019, I received the top award for choreography for Triangulation from the Body Logic Dance Festival in Salt Lake City, UT. 

I have been teaching in higher education for the past 17 years at several universities in both full and part-time positions. Over the years, I completed certifications in Laban Movement Analysis (CLMA), Health/Wellness Coaching, Bill Evans Technique, Yoga, and Mat Pilates. In 2020, I became a Registered Somatic Movement Educator (RSME) and started Soma-Centered Coaching, Somatic practices emphasize learning from the living, moving body and offer a framework for exploring the mind-body connection and the healing properties of dance/movement. This framework creates a natural connection between my previous work as a psychotherapist and my evolving curiosities as a teacher and artist. While my journey in higher education and dance has involved many peaks and valleys, it has also been a spiraling path of discovery and growth. In 2021, this path led me Grand Junction, Colorado and my current position as Assistant Professor of Dance and Program Director at Colorado Mesa University.