The K/P Project, formed by Prince Lyons and Kameron Saunders, is a new collective with a hyperlocal focus. For their inaugural concert called A Conversation… A Dance on Differences—running Friday through Sunday at the future site of City Foundry—Lyons and Saunders, two celebrated local dancers and choreographers, aim to shine a light on a diverse group of talented artists and the issues that impact them, right here in St. Louis.
A free art gallery is open before and after each performance, with works by local visual artists on view and for sale. To see the main event, tickets are required and limited to 75 seats. While the shows are completely sold out, there is a virtual option available.
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Lyons grew up in St. Louis and earned a dance degree at Webster University. He then took jobs with professional companies in Chicago and London, returning home when the pandemic hit. Lyons has recently created choreography for the Big Muddy Dance Company, but as a new producer, he says he is learning on the job.
Lyons and Saunders were determined to create some kind of live event, despite limited resources. “We sat down one day and were trying to figure out what we wanted the show to be about,” says Lyons. They talked about the social justice uprisings that followed the murder of George Floyd and the inequities of the pandemic. “2020 was so moving for so many people—and revealing,” Lyons says.
Determined to give back to his city, Lyons says K/P’s overarching goal is to recognize the humanity in each of the artists performing and to provide space for them to process issues that affect them directly—something he didn’t always experience as a professional dancer. The vignettes that are part of A Conversation revolve around gender, visibility and inclusion, police brutality, women’s rights, disability, and more, all issues raised by the cast as they started to work together.
“We don’t have answers on any of these things,” Lyons says, “but we really want to talk about it. We are doing something incredibly sensitive and touching for the community. But it’s also cool. It’s demanding. I don’t think anybody in the city is doing anything quite like it.”
While K/P’s work is personally significant for the artists involved and provides a much-needed platform for BIPOC, disabled and LGBTQ+ artists in particular, it makes good business sense, too. Lyons notes how diverse and high-quality the dance training is for K-12 and college students in the region. There are fewer opportunities to dance professionally, so artists can feel as though they have to leave St. Louis in order to be successful in dance or leave the field altogether in order to make a living.
That is, in large part, why K/P Project wants to keep going and plans to continue producing events. They’re also committed to paying all the artists fairly. Through a crowdfunding campaign, plus a grant from JaQuel Knight (best known as the choreographer to Beyoncé), the group raised more than $40,000 to fund A Conversation. K/P sees itself not as competition to other dance companies, but as a way to bring people from various corners of the dance community together and raise the Midwest’s profile.
“I really want to put St. Louis on the map,” Lyons says. “Great things are happening here. If we all were to come together and collaborate, I feel like a lot more could get done.”
A Conversation… A Dance on Differences takes place Friday through Sunday at City Foundry STL, 3700 Forest Park Ave. Live and virtual tickets are $20, available at thekpprojectstl.eventbrite.com.
