ALBUQUERQUE, NM – Keshet Dance Company and Center for the Arts is one of seven influential art trailblazers chosen by Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham for the 2025 Governor’s Awards for Excellence in the Arts. The awards celebrate the diversity of New Mexico’s cultural and artistic traditions, as well as new and innovative forms of artistic expression. They also recognize the important work of arts supporters and contributors who passionately ensure the arts are available and accessible in their communities.
Keshet is honored to accept the Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts in the category of Major Contributor to the Arts. 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.
Keshet is passionate about ensuring accessibility to dance performance and education, championing inclusivity, belonging, community, creativity, and justice. Through community classes, professional local and touring performances, visiting artists, and pre- professional programs, Keshet Dance Company uses dance as the vehicle to continue conversations about social justice, the importance of the arts, and the transformative power of dance. Our 30,000sqft home at Keshet Center for the Arts provides space for dancers, artists, and community members and bustles with measurable impact– including over 270 jobs created or retained and millions of dollars invested in the community. Keshet’s contributions to New Mexico’s arts and economy are unparalleled. Moving forward, Keshet continues to activate community, advance social justice, and elevate the arts.
Says University of New Mexico Professor of Dance, Ballet, and Contemporary Dance Vladimir Reche, who nominated Keshet for this award, “Keshet’s unwavering dedication to inclusivity and artistic excellence has left an indelible mark on New Mexico. For 30 years, they have provided opportunities for people of all backgrounds to experience the joy of movement. From individuals with disabilities to youth impacted by the juvenile justice system, and families facing economic hardships, Keshet ensures that dance is truly for everyone.”
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. 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 (Movement + Mentorship = Metamorphosis).
Keshet Dance Company & Center for the Arts is celebrating 30 years of impact in dance, mentorship, and social justice in Albuquerque and beyond this Fall, with a series of anniversary kickoff events October 15-19, 2025, which will include the Governor’s Award ceremony at the New Mexico Museum of Art on October 16. New Mexico Arts and the New Mexico Arts Commission will host a pair of events to recognize this year’s Governor’s Arts Awards recipients. The governor will present the awards at a ceremony at 5 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 16 at the St. Francis Auditorium at New Mexico Museum of Art, followed by a public reception in the courtyard with light refreshments and a sparkling cider toast. An exhibition of work from the 2025 recipients will be on display in the Governor’s Gallery on the fourth floor of the Roundhouse beginning Thursday, Oct. 16 with an opening reception from 2 – 3:30 p.m.
Keshet’s full 30th anniversary season runs October 2025 through August 2026 and will include an exciting new Company production choreographed by Keshet Company Dancer Ana Lopes Aréchiga with original score by local composer Zachariah Julian; the Los Angeles premiere of Movement for Mercy 2025; a multi-phase renovation project for the Keshet Center for the Arts; and so much more.
About the Governor’s Awards for Excellence in the Arts: The Governor’s Awards for Excellence in the Arts are presented in collaboration with the Office of the Governor by the New Mexico Arts Commission and New Mexico Arts. This year’s Awards are made possible in part by major contributions from the Gale Family Foundation, Ramon Jose Lopez & Nancy Nichols Lopez, Catherine Oppenheimer, Henry Muñoz, Thornburg Investment Management, the New Mexico Music Commission, and the members of the New Mexico Arts Commission. The awards celebrate the diversity of New Mexico’s cultural and artistic traditions, as well as new and innovative forms of artistic expression. They also recognize the important work of arts supporters and contributors who passionately ensure the arts are available and accessible in their communities. Established in 1974 by then-Gov. Bruce King and First Lady Alice King, the Governor’s Arts Awards celebrate the role that artists, craftspeople, and arts supporters play in the economic and cultural life of New Mexico. Throughout its existence, a diverse and prestigious list of painters, weavers, sculptors, dancers, musicians, storytellers, poets, actors, playwrights, and potters have been honored. Learn more at nmarts.org/all- programs/governors-arts-awards.
About Keshet: Rooted in dance, mentorship, and a welcoming space for the arts, Keshet activates community and fosters unlimited possibilities through education, engagement, innovation, and the pursuit of justice. Established in 1996, and housed at the Keshet Center for the Arts in Albuquerque’s Midtown Arts and Entertainment District, the heart of the organization is Keshet Dance Company which feeds and is fed by three intersecting program areas: Education & Engagement, encompassing classes and performances for all ages and abilities, the Ideas & Innovation Community, a business resource center and residency-based makerspace for arts entrepreneurs, and Arts & Justice Initiatives, including dance programming within juvenile prisons, field- wide data and research collaborations, systems-change policy advocacy, and community connectivity.
MEDIA CONTACT
Evening Star Barron
505-224-9808
eveningstar@keshetarts.org