Bipeds of Brookland: Kelly King

Bipeds of Brookland: Kelly King

Kelly King came from Texas to study dance at the University of Maryland and “fell in love with  four entire seasons.”  She appreciated exploring contemporary modern dance under Alcine Wiltz, while he was Chair of the Department of Dance, at University of Maryland.  She now is very happy to have a career as a dancer, and choreographer with 24 years teaching what she loves. “I offer dance in theaters, schools, corporations, studios, day centers, homes, and crosswalks.  I am closest to my definition of the divine when I am dancing.”

Kelly currently directs the Kaleidoscope dance ensemble once a week, with employees of the IMF and World bank from all over the world, and is a collaborator with Body Wise Dance where she teaches a biweekly group that includes adults with disabilities. Their performance of Everyday Oz was featured at the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage on May 21. Kelly’s dance performances can be seen in videos on her Patreon page. However, “As a dancer, dance is something I feel and I want other people to feel and participate in. Video is such a visual medium, it flattens out some of the emotional and kinesthetic impact that movement can have on people. At the same time, it’s a door and we want to have as many doors as possible into the art form.”

Kelly is proud to live in Brookland, in the house her husband grew up in, and at which they were married.  She now enjoys raising her three children in the community she feels is an oasis, where “there is a lot of kindness, a lot of respect, a lot of thoughtfulness about how people take care of their space as well as everyone else around them. Kelly believes that the absence of casual human contact in the modern life causes problems and that “people are happier, more productive, more creative, and just better when they’re moving. When they’re moving together, it’s better for everyone.”

Bipeds of Brookland is a weekly series introducing the people who make Brookland their home, one step at a time.

Article and photo by Tom Sabella