Kinetic Dance Collective, also known as KDC, is a student-run organization that encourages students to connect with the HWS campus and greater Geneva community through the art of dance. We aim to foster an inclusive and creative environment that values communication, teamwork, and individual expression through student-led choreography and performance.

Founded in 1969 under the name “Koshare Dance Collective,” KDC’s inaugural performance took place in the Winn-Seeley Gymnasium. In 1971, KDC became an annual tradition with performances taking place in both Bartlett Theatre and the Winn-Seeley Gymnasium with help and guidance from the HWS Dance Department. From there, the club grew immensely, leading to packed performances at The Smith Opera House starting in 2013. KDC has returned to the Smith each Fall since then. The history of KDC continues to inform our performances and events in 2022, and we are grateful for all those who have taken part in the past and those who continue to help the club grow.

Following the social justice awakening of 2020, the members of KDC reevaluated the club’s values, identity, and standing in the HWS community. After reaching out to alumni, founders of the club, and anthropology professionals, we learned that the name “Koshare” is an indigenous term deriving from Hopi Katsina ceremonies; our founders were not Hopi. With the advice and suggestions from anthropologists, we determined the most responsible way of honoring the Hopi tribe would be to avoid using the word in our name, as to not appropriate it. We asked for suggestions from our club members, voted, and welcomed the new name: Kinetic Dance Collective (KDC). With over 100 students involved this year, KDC remains a club that has, for more than fifty years, sought to empower students by giving them a space to explore and exercise their creative and expressive selves.

We would like to acknowledge the traditional territory of the Haudenosaunee and by honoring the sovereignty of the Six Nations–the Mohawk, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, Seneca and Tuscarora–and their land that we dance on today.