30th anniversary

Keshet Dance Company & Center for the Arts is celebrating 30 years of impact in dance, mentorship, and social justice. This milestone event honors Keshet’s legacy while looking toward the future, reinforcing our commitment to community, creativity, and justice. The year of programming will include performances, events, and other unique opportunities to bring our community together in celebration!

Keshet Dance Company was founded in Albuquerque, NM in 1996 by Shira Greenberg with a commitment to breaking barriers in the dance field while honoring the beauty and rigor of contemporary dance. Over the past 30 years, Keshet has grown to a powerhouse in the Albuquerque arts community, evolving from a volunteer-run organization in the 90s to now over 30 staff members in 2025–including full-time year-round employment for Company members, a rarity in the dance industry! With a firm belief that dance is for every body, Keshet grew a Mixed Ability/Adaptive Dance program for dancers of all abilities, and responded to a need for meaningful programming within New Mexico’s juvenile prisons, developing Keshet’s nationally recognized M3 Program, all while continuing to grow the professional dance company and teach dance classes to the Albuquerque community.

Company repertory includes Keshet Dance Company New Works; the groundbreaking production Nutcracker on the Rocks, an ABQ holiday staple for 20 years that featured professional, pre-professional, and community dancers performing together; Community productions; and Movement for Mercy, an iterative contemporary dance performance examining & re-imagining US juvenile justice systems, co-created by collaborating artists inside and outside of prison walls.

Keshet’s 30th anniversary season brings a new exciting Company production choreographed by Keshet Company Dancer Ana Lopes Aréchiga, with an original score by local composer Zachariah Julian; the newest iteration of Movement for Mercy; a multi-phase renovation project for the Keshet Center for the Arts; and so much more!

Looking forward, Keshet’s future is full of unlimited possibilities!