Kenneth Walker ’01

With skyrocketing ticket prices and few performances per year, classical dance can be hard to come by in Los Angeles. To combat this, Ken Walker ’01 is showcasing classical dance to new audiences with his dance company, Kenneth Walker Dance Project (KWDP).

As KWDP jetés across the city, Walker hopes to bring revelation to the art of classical dance while bringing dance to the forefront of the Los Angeles community.

As a high school student, studying ballet at South Bay Ballet, located only a few miles south of his alma mater, Walker decided he wanted to make dance his profession. But it was also important to him that he received a dance education, so he enrolled in the UCLA Department of World Arts and Cultures with a concentration in dance. Walker attributes his favorite moment at the college to a dance class taught by the world- renowned choreographer William Forsythe.

“The class was unforgettable, down to every single step,” Walker states.

After studying at UCLA, Walker decided it was time to use his talents to show classical dance in a new light. But first he would dance and choreograph professionally with the Sacramento Ballet, Minnesota Ballet, Oakland Ballet, Ballet Pacifica, and the Pasadena Dance Theater.

While dancing for Ballet Pacifica, Walker was invited to a dance festival in Sacramento and was asked to bring his own dance company. At the time KWDP did not exist, so Walker quickly gathered a group of dance friends and they performed his choreography at the festival. The group was met with an enthusiastic response. This would be the informal beginnings of Kenneth Walker Dance Project.

KWDP has since grown and established its own purpose and goal in the artistic community.

“Our mission is to take old art form and make it relevant to current art forms. I hope for our works to be entertaining and though provoking,” Walker says.

KWDP is based in San Pedro and performs throughout Los Angeles. Walker serves as artistic director, dancer and choreographer for the company.

“It’s very tough balancing being a director, choreographer and dancer. You have to maintain your technique while making sure costumes and sets are taken care of and that you have the correct dancers,” Walker says.

His choreographic works have won numerous awards and recognition especially within the dance community. One of Walker’s earliest awards was the Southern California Dance Theater’s first Young Choreographer’s Award. He was also a finalist at the Sarasota Ballet of Florida’s International Choreography Competition. His work has performed multiple times at the Regional Dance America Gala performances, South Coast Dance Arts Alliance, Los Angeles Dance Invitational, “Dance! Santa Monica” Festival, Sacramento Area Dance Alliance, Spectrum Dance in L.A., and in the Ballet Pacifica Conservatory repertoire.

According to Walker, the dance scene in Los Angeles differs from those in other major cities like New York or San Francisco.

“Los Angeles is so widespread and fragmented that it has been hard for the dance community to find a voice, to collaborate and to deliver unified messages to audiences. Dance is also poorly served by local media. If choreographers and dancers can get their voices together to agree on one thing, the dance scene in L.A. would be on the verge of something spectacular,” Walker says.

To aspiring company directors and dancers Walker notes, “As artists we need to support each other, by going to each other’s shows, and by promoting issues that will help dance ecology. These issues will help rest of community as well.”

For information and to see a performance go to his website.