سيرة
At 17, Tora Kim attended the Lee Strasberg Institute in New York City, considering a future in acting before life took a different direction. After two years at Barnard College, where she studied Art History and Sociology with a Minor in Studio Art, she founded the influential New York rock band Xtatika, left school, and pursued a career as a singer, songwriter, and musician. Touring across four continents and recording albums, her exceptional productivity also led her to earn a BA in Performance Art and Writing with honors from New York University, where she received awards for prose and fiction. Tora continued her music career while writing and performing solo and ensemble shows that received acclaim at venues like The Public Theater and PS 122 in New York City. She also performed in traditional theater, including Shakespeare and Brecht, before relocating to Los Angeles in 2010. Tora Kim has collaborated with a wide array of artists such as Sean Lennon, John Zorn, Marina Abramovic, and Academy Award winner Dustin Lance Black.
Born in Seoul, South Korea, Tora lived in Panama City, Panama; Queens, New York; and northern New Jersey—all before turning six. Growing up in northern New Jersey, she trained in classical piano, viola, voice, and ballet, and traveled extensively during her teenage years. Her music career entailed a rock and roll lifestyle marked by extremes. Now leading a more balanced life, Tora recently wrote, directed, and starred in Half/Life, a dark fantasy short film inspired by those intense years of creative upheaval.
