our founder

Minister Chris Kelly formed the community praise dance ministry, the "Heritage Praise Dancers," in February 2006. In 2009, the name changed to the Heritage Dance Ministry to reflect their mission.

Chris is a graduate of the Eagle International Dance Institute (EITI), Flag Institute, and Pagentry Institute, located in Frisco, TX. She received her license as a Dance Minister under the leadership of Apostle Dr. Pamela Sue Scott in 2009 and served as the Missouri State Leader for the EITI from 2009 to 2022. She is also a member of the National Liturgical Dance Network (NLDN), founded by Reverend Eyeasha Marable in Orange, New Jersey.

Chris is sought out to provide workshop instruction and serve as a keynote speaker at dance conferences at both the local and national levels, facilitating dance workshops and serving as a guest speaker at these events. Along with a delegation of dancers from the EITI and NLDN, she visited Israel in March 2010 as part of a ministry mission. As a volunteer, she provided liturgical dance instruction for the Ozanam Home for Boys and Girls Campus in Kansas City, MO.

She has been blessed to appear in concert with Stellar Award Winners Marvin Sapp, Bobby Jones, and Lee Williams and the Spiritual QC's. She has ministered in dance in Montego Bay, Jamaica, for the North American Baptist Women's Union General Assembly and in Birmingham, England, for the Baptist Women's Alliance National Conference.

Chris has made notable appearances throughout the Greater Kansas City area as a dance facilitator and choreographer for the Progressive National Baptist Convention conferences and annual sessions.  

See more about Chris <HERE>