ABOUT US
Our Mission
Founded in 2003, KEIGWIN + COMPANY (K+C) creates and presents Artistic Director Larry Keigwin’s electrifying brand of contemporary dance. K+C reaches national and international audiences and invigorates diverse communities with a refreshing vision of dance that embodies a theatrical sense of wit, style, and heart.
Education and community projects seek to physically engage audiences and students in movement and the choreographic process, and bring new opportunities for individuals to become more invested in dance.
Our Vision
K+C’s artistry combines Artistic Director Larry Keigwin’s explosive athleticism with wit and musicality to create an inclusive, accessible, authentically human, and joyful experience for broad audiences across the globe.
To deepen audiences' relationship with K+C and with dance, the company engages individuals with little to no dance experience in the creative process through community-based work like Bolero and Rhapsody, as well as outreach and education, anchored by Keigwin’s belief that everyone and anyone can dance.
With its community-driven work, K+C encourages participants to uncover their own physicality and creativity while bolstering a connection to their communities.
Larry’s Artistic Philosophy
I was the gotta dance kid. I was always moving.
That love of movement – sheer kinetic energy and the fascination of bodies moving through space – ignited a fire which has fueled my work from my first paying dance gig on Club MTV to Broadway to 20 years and counting of KEIGWIN + COMPANY.
My artistic vision blends an explosive athleticism with wit and musicality to create an inclusive, accessible, and authentically human experience for broad audiences.
When I walk into the studio to start a new work, I often don’t know what I am going to create. I sometimes arrive in the studio with a kernel of an idea – about life, nature, or relationships. From there, playful exercises, games, and improvisations with the dancers will reveal a spark, a hook that provides an inspirational launching point to explore something deeper.
I am continually interested in unveiling dancers’ unique personalities and idiosyncrasies. So often, I see myself as a dressmaker. The dancers help create the fabric, imbuing it with color and texture. I see the dress in its entirety and sew it together.
- Larry Keigwin
“Mr. Keigwin’s uninhibited embrace of the theatrical is itself a form of high art.”
— Roslyn Sulcas, The New York Times
About Us
Since K+C’s premiere performance at Joyce Soho in 2003, Artistic Director Larry Keigwin has created more than 40 dances. Keigwin works in partnership with his collaborators -- dancers, filmmakers, artists -- to develop dance inspired by his influences, from Broadway to architecture to dance. Since 2007, K+C has developed its community project Bolero in 16 communities, from NYC to Akron, and for the virtual platform with Bolero Juilliard, engaging more than 700 individuals in a creative process over the years.
Of Bolero, Gia Kourlas of The New York Times proclaimed: “Keigwin has made a dance about a community add up to more than a community dance.” For two decades, K+C has been presented in venues including The Joyce Theater, The Kennedy Center, Jacobs Pillow Dance Festival, American Dance Festival, Vail International Dance Festival, Spoleto Festival USA, the Guggenheim Museum in NYC and Spain, and more.
Critics have described Keigwin’s artistry as both accessible and exhilarating – "Mr. Keigwin injects a revivifying dose of blithe high spirits into an often rather solemn art,” wrote Jennifer Dunning of The New York Times while Deborah Jowitt proclaimed in the Village Voice “I see Larry Keigwin as a mixologist: In his works, sweet seriousness, camp, and flash assert and mingle their flavors…his concoction goes down very smoothly indeed.”
In 2017, K+C expanded its reach through DanceMotion USA with a 4-week tour to Cote d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, and Tunisia. As Covid-19 shifted dance online, K+C created acclaimed virtual works in 20/21, celebrating artistry and connection on the digital platform with high-profile commissions from The Juilliard School, Paul Taylor Dance Company, Works & Process at the Guggenheim, and YoungArts Foundation. Vogue heralded Bolero Juilliard, which brought together 100+ artists, as “One of the 9 Best Ballets to Come Out of Quarantine.”
“And the audience screams, hoping this is the start of something big: an exciting new dance voice.”
— Gus Solomons Jr., Gay City News
We’re Celebrating 20 Years!
In 2023, K+C marks our 20th Anniversary with electrifying new dances, joyful community work, and abundant pathways for you to join in on the fun – in the audience, onstage, and in the park – to move, gather, and celebrate dance, creativity, and connection.