Previous Company Work

A MORE BEAUTIFUL QUESTION (2024)

Keshet Dance Company’s 2024 Company show was A More Beautiful Question, an evening-length mixed repertory production that included eight collaborating choreographers and six new pieces.
“It is the more beautiful questions which guide our paths to investigate the genuine problems, allowing us to activate the most creative, meaningful solutions.”

The phrase/title A More Beautiful Question struck Artistic Director and Founder Shira Greenberg when she was reading a book about the nature of questioning and led to an exciting opportunity to engage invited choreographers in varied interpretations of that phrase. For some, this guided the artists to a specific question from which investigation into that question was the process for their dancemaking. For others, the inquiry about the nature of questioning itself was the space of exploration.

ANEMOIA (2023)

Choreographed by members of the Keshet Dance Company and Artistic Director Shira Greenberg, and including Keshet’s Pre-Professional Students and a multigenerational mix of dancers and movers from the Albuquerque community, this work was inspired by artists of all ages who have never met (but have exchanged ideas and concepts virtually), exploring places they have never traveled, and embodying movement from across borders where they have never been.

With a diverse ensemble of over 40 dancers, including some who were taking their first steps onto the stage, Anemoia embodied Keshet’s spirit of community, and the belief that the art and joy of dance is for everyone.

FROM THE VAULT (2023)

A retrospective of the past 26 years of Founder and Artistic Director Shira Greenberg’s artistry and choreography, setting choreography from Keshet’s rich history on current Company and KP3 dancers. Digging deep into the Keshet vaults to bring audiences a series of blasts from the past, From the Vault also included a brand new piece choreographed by Shira Greenberg and Founding Company Dancer Sarah Elizabeth Bennett, and marked Shira’s first time dancing on the Cutler Ave Keshet stage! From the Vault celebrated Keshet’s continuing vision to empower individuals, nurture community, and sustain equity through dance.

HEVEL (2022)

Choreographed by Keshet Company Dancer Ana Lopes Aréchiga, Hevel was an exploration on patience, honoring the concept of time as a human creation used to define our existence. The title uses the Hebrew word for steam, vapor, futility, folly, emptiness, vanity. Ana created this work on Keshet Dance Company members and upper level KP3 students; working with professional company dancers in originating a new full-length work was a unique opportunity in their dance training.

KEYSTONES (2022)

In April of 2022, Keshet premiered Keystones, choreographed by Keshet’s Founder and Artistic Director, Shira Greenberg.

“The Keystone is the central stone at the summit of an arch, locking the whole together, and allowing the arch to bear weight. The curve of the arch has a gentleness and grace,yet by its nature, the arch can withstand immense pressure due to the unique design and interlocking supports. This architectural wonder resonates deeply with me when I think about the structure of Keshet, and the process of constructing and layering the many bricks of the organization over the years. The Keystone in this narrative is two-fold:
1) The dancers themselves,and the immense grace, authenticity, vulnerability, strength, and power they bring to our community and their individual artistry every day; and
2) Dance Itself-the universal language of movement, and the power, energy, and strengths this art form generates for us, individually and as a community. As so many artists moved through this period of uncertainty over the past few years, I was reminded of the power of movement, the power of a community which creates and shares art together, the power of laughter, introspection,and the importance of connection and creation on our shared journey.” – Shira Greenberg

LOVE LETTER TO ALBUQUERQUE (2020)

In the summer and fall of 2020, the Keshet Company dancers reached out to the ABQ community with a prompt to share their thoughts on their own personal “Love Letter to Albuquerque.” Their words were gathered and compiled (see the full complied written piece here: Keshet Dance Company Creates New Work For Somos ABQ) and these words and images were used as inspiration for this new work created at the Keshet Center for the Arts, in the heart of the Midtown Arts and Entertainment District of ABQ, NM.

• Featuring music (used with permission) by: David Bashwiner, Kid Feliz, Talking Hours, Matthew Tobias, and Bill Palmer
• Music composition: Matthew Tobias, empty house studio
  Keshet Dance Company / Choreographers and Dancers: Ana Lopes Aréchiga, Sonia Bologa, Lara Segura
• Videography production and editing: Joe Brown, Lara Segura

MOVEMENT FOR MERCY – 2020-present

Mercy /noun/ compassion or forgiveness shown toward someone whom it is within one’s power to punish or harm

Movement /noun/ an act of changing physical location or position or of having this changed; a group of people working together to advance their shared political, social, or artistic ideas

Keshet’s Movement for Mercy production is a contemporary dance performance intended to examine (and change) the US juvenile carceral system/s. Co-created & performed by a team of collaborating dance artists from Keshet Dance Co and incarcerated young adults from Keshet’s M3 Program (Movement + Mentorship = Metamorphosis), Movement for Mercy is created through a durational process inside & outside of prison walls, with the work shared through the bodies of those on the outside for this unique performance experience. Through the process we are aware of how the physical space & lived experience of freedom vs. incarceration influences the collaborative process & product. The process is intentionally slow, and leaves room for both emotional care & logistical realities of dancemaking in prison. Movement for Mercy explores themes of human empowerment and resiliency while bringing awareness to a small slice of the realities facing our youth who are navigating the current juvenile (in)justice system.

“In creating work for this year’s Movement for Mercy production, I’ve seen collaborating artists approach their creative vision with a deep desire to share, to be seen and heard. Many of our young artists sharing work are eager to pave their paths in the truth of what “justice” means for their futures and it’s an honor to see it unfold in this partnership,” says Director of Arts & Justice Initiatives and Keshet Company Dancer Elysia Pope. “We’re seeing artist collaborations span across communities in Albuquerque, but also engage Keshet partner organizations rooted in arts and justice work from out of state. The breadth of lived experiences and striking, honest artistry from our collaborators will offer not only a stunning production, but a meaningful and necessary conversation on how art and justice can transform our visions of the future.”

Movement for Mercy performances and showings occur throughout NM, including residencies and partnerships throughout the U.S.

NATIONAL WATER DANCE (2018, 2020, 2022, 2024)

A bi-annual national initiative taking place during Earth Day weekend, dancers across the United States from Seattle to Mississippi, from Maine to Miami (and here in Albuquerque, New Mexico!) join together in a nation-wide simultaneous dance event at water sites, rural and urban, remote and public, bringing attention to our need to be accountable for the water that sustains us. Keshet Dance Company and Students engaged with a wide range of community partners to bring awareness and education to our local community about water issues and causes of environmental justice

A BEAST, AN ANGEL, AND A MADWOMAN (2015-2016)

Created in 2015 and performed in New Mexico, Italy, and Switzerland throughout 2015-2016, a beast, an angel, and a madwoman is a collection of four works, by four dynamic female choreographers.

• choreographer: Erika Randall
• Interview with Guest Choreographer, Maggie Bergeron
• Dancers: Margaret Behm, Jamie Book, Kristi Licera, Elysia Pope, Marissa Reynolds
• Choreographers: Maggie Bergeron, Shira Greenberg, Donna Jewell, Erika Randall
• Special thanks to our Swiss hosts: Cathleen Cain, Matti Straub Fischer, and KaosPilots

ANI MA’AMIN (2009-2014)

Commissioned by the Jewish Community Center of Minneapolis.

Ani Ma’amin (Hebrew for “I believe”) is a powerful and thought-provoking contemporary dance piece exploring the impact of the Holocaust on American Jews. Choreographed by Shira Greenberg, the 85-minute piece runs with no intermission. Five dancers recreate the experiences and themes expressed by multiple generations, beginning pre-war and culminating at the present-day. Dynamic and emotional movement is threaded together with poetry and video testimonies from Holocaust survivors and children of survivors, with footage compiled from the University of Southern California’s Shoah Foundation Institute for Visual History and Education.

The work was created with extensive input from the choreographer’s family interviews, familial community experiential contributions, and broader research in partnership with the University of Southern California, University of New Mexico, and many others.
In partnership with the Learning for Justice organization (formerly the Teaching Tolerance Foundation), Keshet created and distributed an extensive complementary curriculum which accompanied the Ani Ma’amin performance when presented in educational settings (primarily focused on middle school, high school, and colleges).

NUTCRACKER ON THE ROCKS (1997-2016)

The Company is joined by community dancers of all ages, levels, and abilities to create Keshet’s unique rock-n-roll version of the holiday classic. Created and choreographed by Shira Greenberg, the 1997 production premiered with 13 dancers to a small audience in Albuquerque, NM. At the end of its 20-year run, the cast had grown to a consistent 150-200 dancers, closing with a 3-week run to sold out audiences, and had been trademarked and licensed to Cohesion Dance Project in Helena, MT, where the production continues to run through the holiday season.