Shira Greenberg

Shira is honored to join this team of Advisors and the incredible NDP staff for this 30th year of supporting the power of dance and the many incredible dancemakers in our communities. Shira has had the privilege of engaging with NDP over the years as a previous advisor, a presenting partner for NDP grantees, and as a grant award recipient for new dance work. Experiencing the impact of NDP from all three perspectives and engaging with the many collaborators in each of these aspects has been a true gift. 

Shira is the Founder and Artistic Director of Keshet Dance Company; her work is rooted at the intersection of contemporary dance, community, and systems-change advocacy. Founded in 1996, Keshet focuses on accessibility for artists and audiences, the connection of dance and juvenile justice ecosystem reform, the dynamic contemporary dance scene locally and globally, and economic development initiatives via arts entrepreneurship, performing arts makerspaces/residencies, and community engagement.  

Keshet’s contemporary dance company works in tandem within all of Keshet’s community programs. For 30 years, this has included daily engagement within New Mexico’s juvenile prison system, including daily/weekly classes inside both pre- and post- adjudication facilities, policy/systems-change efforts, post-release/reintegration resources including paid apprenticeships and parole support. 

In 2012, Shira’s multi-year efforts connecting public and private resources for community-impact initiatives resulted in the opening of the Keshet Center for the Arts. With six studios and a 220-seat theater, Keshet’s programming expanded to include choreographic residencies, a community-engaged presenting model, and an extensive curriculum of business workshops for artists/organizations. Keshet is currently in the process of adding dorms for visiting artists, an 80-seat theater, an outdoor performance space, and additional studios. 

Shira has created over 60 original dance works for stage and film, including “Nutcracker on the Rocks” [“Any unmoved spectators had to be dead” – Arthur Alpert, Prime Time Magazine]; “Ani Ma’amin” [one of the most moving and beautifully designed dances this viewer has experienced…totally absorbing” – Jennifer Noyer, Albuquerque Journal]; and “A beast an angel and a madwoman” [“Transformative” – Matti Straub-Fisher, KaosPilots, Bern, Switzerland]. She has been recognized by multiple organizations and awards including the Martin Luther King, Jr Multicultural Council’s Keep the Dream Alive Award for “creating an environment where the medium of dance is used to build cross-cultural and social bridges to every aspect of society” and the Obama Administration’s President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities for her influential work at the intersection of dance and juvenile justice. Additional honors include the NM Governor’s Award for Outstanding New Mexico Women; NM Business Weekly’s Top Performing CEO of a non-profit organization, the NM Humanitarian Award, and the NM Ethics in Business Award recognizing the highest standards of ethical conduct, integrity and civic and social responsibility. She has been a guest speaker & educator throughout the United States, Europe, and the Middle East, sharing Keshet’s integrated approach of professional contemporary dance with programming in the areas of social justice, economic development, and spaces of belonging. 

Photo by Joey Greenberg  

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