Kelsi Benage

Kelsi Benage has spent the majority of her life dedicating her time to dance. A native of Wichita, Kansas she grew up dancing competitively since the age of 3. Kelsi has been a part of the competitive and concert dance world for 19 years. She studied dance at the Conservatory of Music and Dance at the University of Missouri Kansas City. She graduated with her Bachelors in Fine Arts in May 2015 with a dual emphasis in ballet and modern techniques. Her technique vocabulary is advanced and has studied extensively under ballet and modern masters such as Paula Weber, Ronald Tice, Mary Pat Henry, Gary Abbott, DeeAnna Hiett and Sabrina Madison-Cannon. Kelsi has performed numerous works from these masters on the UMKC stage. While attending UMKC she has been a part of the UMKC Dance Team, in which she was Captain. While being a member, the team has been nationally ranked and she has received numerous team and individual awards. She has performed in many professional settings and has ample performance experience. In the summer of 2014 she performed Gary Abbott’s Tricheur, Menteur, Voleur at The Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. She has also performed at The Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts in Kansas City, Missouri and has been a guest performer for National Talent Competitions across the U.S. Kelsi has professional training in choreographic design and composition. Kelsi has spent an extensive amount of time in professional workshops and traveling the US to gain experience in all types of professional dance settings. She is currently dancing professionally under Artistic Directors Missy Lay Zimmer and Andrew Hubbard in their Contemporary-Jazz based company, Exhale Dance Tribe, where she continues to learn, grow and perform in the dance world.