Directors
Karla Nweje
KARLA NWEJE (she/her) is a choreographer, performer, literary artist, and arts educator. She holds a BFA in Dance Performance & Composition from Brooklyn College/CUNY and has performed with groups in NYC, ATL and the Twin Cities.
As a literary artist, Karla is a published author and contributing writer to journals and anthologies. She also creates/presents interactive programs for youth. During her service as a high school language arts teacher & instructor for studios and outreach programs, she continued to compose dances and perform, often augmenting her choreography with her literary material. Since her arrival to the Twin Cities, Karla has produced several bodies of stage work and continues to connect with a broadening audience base.
She is a 2013 recipient of the Excellence in Educational Service Award (Ordway Center for Performing Arts) and served for 10 seasons as a teaching artist & design team member for its Dance to Learn program. Through this partnership, she choreographed numerous works that were experienced by thousands of young audience members. She also served for 10 years as a Cowles Center Teaching Artist and is currently on the rosters of COMPAS, ESAC and WITNESS.
Ms. Nweje continues to cultivate partnerships across organizations and programs to make quality arts experiences accessible to all learners, and her choreographic and literary themes reflect her ongoing commitment to comprehensive youth development and social justice. This is her 3rd season with DanceCo.
Matthew Keefe
Matthew Keefe (he/him) has served the dance field for over 20 years as a dancer, teacher, choreographer, administrator, production & stage manager, non-profit consultant, board member, and artistic director.
He holds an MFA in Dance from the University of Iowa and a non-profit management certificate from Rutgers University. Matthew has danced with James Sewell Ballet, Louisville Ballet and BalletMet Columbus, Charleston Ballet Theatre, has appeared as a guest artist for dozens of performances across the US and abroad including productions with Lyric Opera of Chicago, Minnesota Opera, and MN Orchestra’s 2015 production of Carousel.
He has choreographed over 50 ballets for professional and student ensembles. Matthew served on the board of Dance/USA for six years, chairing the Trustee Committee and a member of the Executive Committee. He served as the Artistic and School Director of the Rockford Dance Company where he led an increase in enrollment and reduction of deficit while creating several innovative productions with the performing company.
He was the stage manager for the 2010 and 2016 Youth America Grand Prix and appears (briefly) in the documentary, “First Position”. Matthew directed multiple productions for Children’s Dance Theatre in Rochester, MN including: The Mermaid (2016), The Jungle Book (2017), Cinderella (2018), Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2019), and Alice in Wonderland (2021).
Matthew is proud to work at the University of Minnesota Extension as a Development Associate.
Brittany Keefe
Brittany (she/her) danced with Pacific Northwest Ballet, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, Ballet Memphis, Minnesota Dance Theatre, James Sewell Ballet, American Repertory Ballet, Terpsicorps Dance Theater, Terra Firma Dance Company, Chamber Dance Project, Collide Theatrical Dance Company, at the National Choreographers' Initiative, and with Morphoses. She performed in a solo improvisation show in Germany and Italy under the direction of Luca Veggetti, and was selected to be an American ambassador at the international dance festival in Cali, Columbia.
Administratively, Brittany is the Marketing and Communications Director and Young Dance and previously served as the School Coordinator of the Rockford Dance Company.
Brittany is certified in the GYROTONIC® exercise system and runs a home-based studio, My Spiral Motion, helping people to “live better in their own bodies!”