In 2015, Kelli McGovern, Cleo Mack, and Blair Ritchie founded Washington Rock Dance, a dance school, and Rock Dance Collective, a professional dance company. For the next decade, they grew each entity and developed their professional careers as artists, educators and scholars. These three identities remain at the forefront of their organizational interests and inform the three pillars of Rock Dance Center. 

 

Their school, Washington Rock Dance, provides a home for dynamic training that equips students with the skills and discipline to excel in a career in the arts, or in any career path they choose. It has grown from their desire to create a connection between the professional and student worlds that was grounded in community, rigor and the pursuit of artistic excellence. The school houses pre-professional training tracks that allow for an intensive focus in both ballet, modern and contemporary movement, and students from all tracks have gone on to professional careers in dance.

 

Their professional work is centered in Rock Dance Collective. What began as a concert dance company, has since expanded into an interdisciplinary company that creates large scale work incorporating movement, theater, music, and visual art. Living in both the dance and visual art worlds, Rock Dance Collective regularly presents work in proscenium theaters, art galleries, sculpture parks, and various site specific locations throughout the country. Their extensive commitment to scholarship and research sets them apart as educators and artists. With advanced degrees in the arts and education, they have been invited to speak at national conferences, providing high-quality continuing education in dance, art-making, somatics, and leadership to professionals the public, private, and higher education sectors.

 

Rock Community is an outreach program developed to bridge the gap between professional dance, arts education, and the broader community. Rooted in the belief that movement should be accessible to all, Rock Community offers workshops, performances, and interactive experiences that bring dance into schools, community centers, environmental organizations, and non-traditional spaces. Rock Community strives to inspire and engage individuals of all backgrounds, reinforcing the idea that movement is a powerful tool for community building.

 

As we look to the next decade, we feel it has become necessary to develop Rock Dance Center as an umbrella organization that speaks to the breadth of what we do and cultivates the structure for our growth for many years to come.