Local nonprofit modern dance company Keshet is growing fast, and with a recently beefed up internship program, the company is looking for UNM students interested in gaining credit for working in a variety of positions in the artistic, administrative and technical side of the organization.
Keshet's unpaid internships offer opportunities for students in UNM dance or theater programs, as well as anyone interested in the business side of performance production, says artistic director Shira Greenberg, and could lead to a permanent paid job as the company grows.
"We're trying to reach out with opportunities to students who don't know what's out there to take advantage of," she said. "These are positions that we will eventually hire for, would like to hire someone who has been working that position."
Since it's beginnings in a downtown warehouse in 1996, Keshet has grown to include both a professional dance performance component, as well as dance education and outreach programs for at-risk or physically impaired youth and adults. In it's new digs at Coal Avenue and Second Street, Keshet employs seven administrative staff; 13 dancers, instructors and accompanists; and more than 100 volunteers.
The outreach program works with children who are blind, wheelchair-users or otherwise physically challenged to develop teamwork skills and self confidence while providing an outlet for creative expression, Greenberg said.
"The class helps kids learn to dance, learn how to view their bodies a little differently, and view movement and their chairs differently," she said. "There's a lot of things you can do with a wheelchair that you can't do with your feet."
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In addition to classes for the physically impaired, Keshet performs outreach with local at-risk youth. Greenberg has developed programs at the Albuquerque Youth Detention Center, as well as at Hogares, a minimum security facility for troubled children.
Greenberg said a typical program at a detention center would involve working with about 12 girls to develop and choreograph dance programs, which helps them learn how to help and support each other. She said the program has been surprisingly popular.
"It's really an amazing program," she said. "This is often a hard group to come in to and say, 'Hey we're going to dance,' but I love it - you can see the results so dramatically."
She said the social service element was an important part of the program at its inception, and that the dancers and educators enjoy playing dual roles as social workers.
The professional dance program is growing as well. Last year, it took it's first national tour to Minneapolis, and Greenberg said similar tours are in the works, with plans to expand into international territory in the future.
Keshet will stage its wildly popular "Nutcracker on the Rocks" at UNM's Rodey Theatre Dec. 6-10. The production features dancers of all shapes, sizes and abilities, updated music by the likes of the Allman Brothers, Aretha Franklin and Janis Joplin, accompanied by a Harley Davidson motorcycle.
Internship opportunities at Keshet include marketing, program coordination, event planning, fund-raising, dance performance and instruction, composition, accompaniment and theater techie stuff such as stage management and lighting. Greenberg hopes the internship program will keep more UNM graduates in the state.
"What I've found in the past is that when we have notices out to hire dancers and teachers, 90 percent of applicants have come from out of state," she said. "Being that UNM has such a great dance program, it would be lovely if people could go through it and know there's a place they could have a career and be paid for it."
