Chadash Contemporary Dance Movement

A look back at our 2025-2026 season…

•Handle’s Messiah- Chadash’s favorite holiday tradition. Audiences love coming to experience the classical music in a new visual way. This was the 3rd season Chadash performed Messiah and we are already looking forward to the 4th.

•Moonlit Verses From the Ashes- Our show in with our very own Colorado Dance Initiative dancers. This show intertwined poetry and dance to create a unique show featuring poets like Shel Silverstein, Shakespeare, Emily Dickinson, and Maya Angelou.

•H(YOU)MANE- We had both the Colorado company and dancers from across the country come together to put on the story of H(YOU)MANE. This show used visual art and dance to paint the story of humanity and covered topics like balance, community, beauty, hurry and more.

Don’t miss our upcoming 2026-2027 season:
-Handel’s Messiah
December 18th, 19th, 20th
-Confluence
May 15th and 16th
-Embodied Narratives
August 13th-15th

About our Rehearsal Assistant- Kaylee Weber
Kaylee’s love for dance started at the young age of 4 in her hometown of Roseville, CA. She trained at a pre-professional conservatory, Northern California Dance Conservatory, where she studied many different styles including ballet, tap, jazz, and contemporary. Kaylee found her passion for choreography at the age of 13 when she choreographed her first solo. With the help of a dance and an academic scholarship, Kaylee was fortunate enough to attend Marymount Manhattan College in New York City where she obtained a B.F.A in Dance with a concentration in Choreography. While in New York, Kaylee had the opportunity to train under some of the finest instructors and choreographers such as Doug Varone, Sidra Bell, Megan Williams, Kaite Langan and many more.

After graduating and moving to Colorado, Kaylee found her love for teaching. She has been teaching various styles of dance and choreographing award winning pieces since 2016. In 2024, she became the Co-Owner and Artistic Director of The Movement Project in Lafayette, CO. Kaylee’s greatest joy lies in nurturing dancers of all levels, fostering their love for the art form, and championing the many benefits dance brings both within and beyond the studio. She continues to cultivate growth and leadership through programs such as Teacher Assistant, Junior Faculty, and Student Choreography.

About our Associate Artistic Director and Company dancer: Stephanie McGill
Stephanie is a native of Colorado and received her early training from the Academy of Colorado Ballet and Dance Arts Studio, where she studied ballet, tap, modern, and jazz. She attended Denver School of the Arts with a major in Dance and went on to earn a B.F.A. in Dance, graduating with honors from the University of Arizona. She also received training through summer intensives with Milwaukee Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, Columbia City Ballet, and Long Beach Ballet. Stephanie has danced professionally and
toured with many Colorado dance companies, including Boulder Ballet, David Taylor Dance Theatre, and 7 Dancers, performing in soloist and ensemble roles.
Stephanie is currently a company member with Chadash Contemporary Dance Movement where she also serves as Associate Artistic Director for both the company as well as their supplemental training program Colorado Dance Initiative.

Photos by Katie Albert

A snip of our September newsletter…
I’ve been thinking a lot about the chaos we wake up to each day. If we’re paying attention to the world around us, it can feel overwhelming—and sometimes, powerless.

It brought me back to one of my favorite books about art, Walking on Water by Madeleine L’Engle. She writes:

“But when the world is, indeed, in chaos, then an affirmation of cosmos becomes essential.”

Cosmos: “an orderly, harmonious, systematic universe.”

L’Engle goes on to describe art as “cosmos found within chaos.” Storytelling, she says, helps us “give a name to the cosmos we see despite all the chaos.”

That gives me hope.

Because what can I do when I’m just one person in the midst of so much?

I can create.
I can tell stories.
I can Name.

And so can everyone.

I believe deeply that we are all creative. Creativity isn’t limited to artists. It can look like telling a story through dance, cooking a beautiful meal, planting flowers, making something with our hands, or simply creating a good day for the people we love.

Maybe these small and big acts of creation can be acts of defiance when the world seems to be throwing chaos at us from every direction.

When I create, I am ushering cosmos into chaos.

Perhaps that is part of our purpose—for such a time as this.

With love,
Kelly
Photo by: Katie Albert

About our Artistic Director: Kelly Archer-
Kelly began training at a young age and began her professional career while still in high school. She was chosen to be part of the Edge Performing Arts Center’s scholarship program, which gave her the opportunity to study and perform movement with some of the most innovative choreographers in Los Angeles. In addition, Ms. Archer attended the University of Northern Colorado, where she was awarded both arts and academic scholarships,earning a degree in theater and a minor in dance. It was during her university training where she fell in love with concert dance. Ms. Archer’s work has been presented at Jacob’s Pillow, the Tanzsommer Festival in Austria, and the Palm Desert Choreography Festival, to name a few. In 2016, she founded Chadash Contemporary Dance Movement, which is now in its 10th season. Also passionate as a dance educator, she founded Colorado Dance Initiative in 2019, a supplemental pre-professional program that helps guide students into university/conservatory programs and professional careers. Since its founding, CDI has had a high success rate at helping young dancers attend their program of choice. Kelly has a burning passion for the arts and believes they hold a power that can heal, transform, and bring beauty into our world. This passion extends to nurturing the artist’s heart as she believes this is ultimately where all great art begins.