romy keegan
Maple Street Dance Space
2004-2024
Owner & Director of Maple Street Dance Space
I have been so grateful to meet, work with, and provide space and support for independent artists and instructors of all kinds, and to get to create and teach, myself, joyfully sharing the healing, transformative power of dance with dancers of all ages and experience levels. As studio owner and creative, I celebrate the strength, grace and confidence gained through the practice and self expression of dance, particularly as it relates to community, a sense of belonging, diversity, and ultimately, unity…through dance.
Dance holds incredible healing power for our bodies, minds and hearts - especially for adults, who are often carrying the burdens of stress, (over)work and family. Whether discovering dance for the first time, or coming back to it after years away, practicing dance provides a very special time and space for the mind to calm and the heart to open, through focus, intention, personal exploration, expression, and connection. It naturally strengthens, tones, and brings balance and flexibility to both the mind and the body.
It is incredibly important to me, as a dance teacher and dancer myself, to hold mindful, supportive space for this magic to take place. Together with the other dancers in the room, we foster an open atmosphere of joy, uplift, and playfulness, while striving to build our skills and connections. I'd love for you join us in exploring your own unique and beautiful self expression!
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Drawing on a lifetime of ballet training, 25+ years of African dance, and lifelong exploration and practice of spiritual engagement and magickal Being, I dance, teach, create and awaken Magick with people of all ages and abilities, but especially with the Inner Child who dreams, plays and sometimes hides, inside adults of all ages.
In 2012 I began developing and teaching Ballet-Afrique, now known as Ballet de la Terre, an original movement technique expressing my love for both classical ballet and West African dance. It captures the open accessibility of a West African dance class, with its beautiful, organic and natural movement, while harnessing the focus, flexibility, strength, and grace, inherent in foundational ballet technique. The creative utilization of both styles of movement produces a playful, dynamic, and exuberantly graceful contemporary fusion, joyful and accessible, for all ages and experience levels.
In Spring 2022 I embarked on The Dancing Our Magick Project, which aims to awaken and integrate uplifting, transformative and empowered visions for ourselves and the world(s) around us, through seasonal workshops and ritual performance pieces choreographed with prayerful, magickal intention. The choreography and the intentions woven into both can be performed alone, as part of a personal spiritual practice, or collectively, together with other dancers who have completed the workshops, in ongoing acts of Blessing, Beauty, and Prayer, indoors and out.
I continue to offer Ballet Basics and private lessons to teens and adults as a strong foundation for both Ballet de la Terre and Dancing Our Magick, as well as a focused, effective, yet casual alternative, to the traditional, classical dance studio model. I have often thought of calling my ballet classes, “Barefoot Ballet”, because of the welcoming, natural, mechanics and technique, yoga-like style I have gravitated toward over the years. Ballet shoes and attire are absolutely welcome, but optional; while positive, free-spirited and open, is the goal!
Meanwhile, dance as a class, in the studio is ONE thing.
Dance as creative expression, OUTSIDE, is another! Whether solo performances, or community dance opportunities, I delight in creating pieces and projects for myself and others, outdoors. Keep your ears and eyes open for upcoming events and opportunities, and sign up for my newsletter: Romydancing to learn more!
Sonja & Bianca, Hamburg, Germany, circa 1945. My 19 year old grandmother, who danced with a touring Italian dance company, and my 13 year old great aunt, at the end of the war, and at the very beginning of a professional partnership that spanned 2 decades, and 2 continents. Along with my great grandmother, who sewed their costumes, they miraclulously survived the bombing of Dresden, which destroyed literally everything they had. Just a short time after this photo was taken, Sonja was diagnosed with a brain tumor that was predicted to take her life, but took only her sight. She continued to dance until she was 74.
BIO:
Coming from a family of dancers, with her grandmother and great aunt having been well known performers in Germany and the US until the early 60s, and with her mother having been a ballerina and studio owner as well, Romy has been involved in, and influenced by dance all her life. She began ballet at age 3, and went on to dance with the New Mexico Ballet Company under the direction of Suzanne Johnston. She continued her ballet studies at UNM, until becoming a ballet teacher herself, at Hayden School of Ballet, under the further guidance and inspiring instruction of Celia Dale and Joanne Emmons. Her African dance studies began in 1990 with a variety of teachers from both the US and Africa, including Sarah Brown, Kim Vetter, Rujeko Dumbutshena, Mary Nakigan, and visiting teachers, Mabiba MBenge, Titos Sompa, Youssef Koumbassa, Djeneba Sako, Assane Kouyate & Abdoulaye Camara, among others.
Since 1998 Romy has enjoyed a diverse and rewarding career as a dance teacher having taught all ages, all over Albuuqerque including, The Albuquerque Museum, BioPark and Open Spaces, National Dance Institute, International Folk Dance Camp, NM Jazz Workshop, Full Circle Summer Camp, and Harwood Art Camp. As well as teaching and directing Maple Street, Romy has had the pleasure to teach in various dance studios around Albuquerque, including Hayden’s School of Ballet, Keshet Center for the Arts, PAPA, and NM Dance Academy.
Throughout her eclectic dance career, Romy has also danced, choreographed, improvised and performed in any number of local ensembles, companies, venues and community events. In the last several years she has been involved with numerous collaborations and projects, independently and through Women & Creativity, as well as performances with jazz singer extraordinaire, Marietta Benevento, and collaborations with composer, dancer and artist, Lauren Valerie Coons. In 2019 she received a residency through Keshet Center for the Arts & the City of Albuquerque, Hear, Here Festival, 2019. AbqArtsReview
Romy continues to engage with creatives, students and audiences, in all the varieties of ways, always offering a doorway to dance, and hoping to inspire, uplift and engage the next would-be dancer. Romy is, and will always be, profoundly grateful for ALL her teachers along the way, for those who have lead her, both directly and indirectly, to becoming a dance teacher herself, and for continuing to inspire her in her own creativity and love of dance!
Community Classes: Ballet de la Terre: Original, Exuberantly Graceful Contemporary Community Dance, (from basics to advancing) & Ballet Basics, Square One, Beginning, & Intermediate, for adults and teens.
Specialty Workshop: Dancing Our Magick
Ashera, Tree of Life & Her Four Directions, Abq Dance Connect Winter Choreographer’s Showcase, 2022
Annual Crane Dance, Abq Open Space Visitor Center, Nov. 2021
BebeLaLa Music Video, Sept. 2021
Stravinsy “L’histoire”, UNM Music Faculty Performance, Aug. 2021
(dancing begins toward the end, around 51)