FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Keshet At Thirty:
A Legacy of Movement, A Future of Unlimited Possibilities
ALBUQUERQUE, NM —Located in the vibrant artistic city that is Albuquerque, NM, there is a contemporary dance company redefining the model of what a dance company can be–and they’re celebrating 30 years of changing the system.
Keshet Dance Company & Center for the Arts is celebrating 30 years of impact in dance, mentorship, and social justice in Albuquerque and beyond, honoring their legacy while reinforcing their commitment to community, creativity, and justice. 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 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 now nationally recognized M3 Program
Keshet production seasons include professional evening-length productions choreographed by Shira, visiting guest artists, and Company members; Community productions; and special productions like the Hear Here Festival. Company repertory also includes the groundbreaking production Nutcracker on the Rocks, an ABQ holiday staple for 20 years that featured professional, pre-professional, and community dancers on stage together, allowing for a special opportunity for community dancers of all levels to experience and perform in a professional production next to professional dancers. While Nutcracker on the Rocks has gone dark (for now) Keshet continues this model today, most frequently with their Community Winter and Spring Concerts. By dissolving the boundaries between stage and community, Keshet ensures that dance–from classes to performances, participants to audiences–remains accessible to all.
Breaking boundaries between who gets to access dance is at the core of Keshet’s 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 uses dance as the vehicle to continue conversations about social justice, the importance of the arts, and the transformative power of dance. Through work such as Movement for Mercy, Keshet is furthering the conversation around the juvenile (in)justice system in New Mexico and the U.S. at large. Keshet Company Dancers are deeply involved in this work at all levels though Keshet’s M3 program, teaching within the last two juvenile prisons in NM, choreographing and collaborating with the youth, and performing and touring the production.
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!
Media Contact
Evening Star Barron
Communications Manager
505.224.9808 main office
eveningstar@keshetarts.org