dance education

During COVID-19 – all online classes are available on a self-selected sliding scale to accommodate your budget – 50% and 100% scholarships are still available, however no volunteer trade is required.

Keshet Class Exchange Program/Financial Aid for Classes

Youth Class Exchange

Keshet’s goal is to ensure that everyone, no matter what ability level or financial status, has the opportunity to dance. Therefore, Keshet offers unlimited, noncompetitive scholarships to youth under 18 participating in Keshet’s community classes. Anyone who applies for this scholarship is accepted! 

** For online-classes, class fees are offered on a sliding scale from $0-$15 to make these classes accessible to anyone who wants to dance. There is no class-trade requirement for online classes.

How does this program work for in-person classes?

The scholarship award comes with a required exchange of time in order to complete the Class Exchange Agreement.  How many hours are owed is determined on a sliding scale from 3.5-9 hours depending on how many classes a week your child is taking and what monthly payments are. For example, if you register at the beginning of a 16 week session and opt to pay $0 for 1 class a week, you will owe 3.5 hours by the end of the session, 16 weeks later!

During Keshet’s most recently completed fiscal year, over $70,000 in financial aid was awarded to dancers of all ages. Youth Class Exchange Applications must accompany a completed Class Registration form. These forms can be completed in person 15 min. prior to the start of class time or downloaded below.

Adult Class Exchange Program (ages 18+)

Keshet is looking for motivated and enthusiastic people to join our Adult Class Exchange team!

This program allows adults 18 and over to take class in exchange for work hours. The Adult Class Exchange – Full allows adults to work in exchange for class on a 1:1 bases- 1 hour of work= 1 hour of class.  Don’t have that much time to complete your exchange hours?  We also offer the Adult Class Exchange – Half! This program allows adults to pay half the cost and work half the hours. Depending on when you register, this could mean you’d pay as little as $6.30 per class!

For both Adult Class Exchange programs, hours danced and hours worked are predetermined and must be agreed upon by the Community Resource Manager and the participants prior to class registration.  Interested? Please fill out an Adult Class Exchange Info Sheet or contact Keshet’s Community Resource Manager, Marissa Reynolds at Marissa@KeshetArts.org

The Adult Class Exchange Program has rolling enrollment however,  if you wish to dance in consecutive sessions, you are required to sign a new agreement with updated availability and class registration at the beginning of EACH session. Applicants must be 18 or older to apply and must participate in an interview and orientation/ training prior to acceptance into the program. No dance experience is necessary. Call, stop by or click on the link below for more information.

• Adult Class Exchange Info Sheet
• Volunteer Skills / Interests Availability Form: CLICK HERE

With Keshet’s International Dance Festival and Makers Space, various guest artists from across the globe come to Keshet Center for the Arts to create and/or showcase work. Guest Artist Master Classes are open to the public. For details on Master Class Schedules – CLICK HERE

Community Engagement

Keshet in the Community

Since its inception in 1996, Keshet’s talented teaching faculty has been connecting community members with dance in an effort to build a stronger community. Programming includes workshops, classes, and performances in libraries, youth shelters, detention centers, schools and community centers throughout New Mexico. Participants in Keshet’s Community Engagement gain self-confidence and self-discipline by challenging themselves to use their bodies in new ways and by working together with instructors and other participants.

Custom classes are available for cross-training athletes and teams:
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Keshet’s on-going community engagement includes:

M3 Program at Youth Diagnostic and Development Center (YDDC)/Foothill High School

Keshet’s outreach facilitators teach daily dance classes as part of the high school curriculum on site at YDDC, New Mexico’s state juvenile detention facility, using dance to teach literacy skills, math skills and conflict resolution skills. Keshet also has a pre-release and post-release program to continue mentoring students while they transition out of the facility, providing a structured mentorship program through the parole and reintegration process. – LEARN MORE

Title 1 Homeless Project

The Title 1 Homeless Project is an after-school program that provides academic tutoring and a hot meal to homeless children in Albuquerque. As part of the program, Keshet’s outreach facilitators teach 8-10 classes per week at elementary, middle and high schools throughout the city, reaching approximately 250 homeless youth annually.

“Keshet has brought joy to our students. You have enriched our children’s lives significantly.” – Helen Fox and Katy Braziel, Title I Homeless Project Coordinators

Adult Support Services

Keshet faculty teach a weekly creative movement class at Keshet Center for the Arts for partners who provide assistance to adults with disabilities.

Booking Keshet

Keshet customizes programs to meet the needs of the participating organization. Keshet is always looking for ways to provide more community members with the opportunity to dance. If you know of an organization that may be interested in Keshet’s Community Engagement, please contact us at 505-224-9808 or email Ana@KeshetArts.org

Examples of Community Engagement classes include: senior activity centers, pre-schools, high school dance teams, homeschool groups, City of Albuquerque – library classes

“Keshet Dance is an excellent example of using the arts to help our young people help themselves.” Alexander D. Crary, Former Chief of Staff, National Endowment for the Arts