Carla Perlo was born in Washington, D.C. in 1951. Perlo has made a lifetime commitment to the fields of dance, youth education and community revitalization through the arts. She is co-founder Dance Place in Washington, D.C. and for thirty-six years served as its visionary Founding Director. With support from the Board of Directors, Dance Place became the second independent organization in the United States to own and operate a facility for the training and presentation of dance. In August 2017, Perlo transitioned to Director Emerita, in which role she remains on Dance Place’s teaching faculty, youth program staff and serves as a consultant. In 2013, Ms. Perlo was honored to receive the DC Mayor’s Arts Award for “Excellence in Service to the Arts.” Other awards include Washingtonian Magazine’s Washingtonian of the Year (1997), The Pola Nirenska Lifetime Achievement Award (2017), and the Ernie Award for Outstanding Service to the Field of Dance (Dance/USA, 2018).