About Alden

Alden Phillips McShan was born and raised in Tuscaloosa, Alabama where she grew up training at The Dance Centre, the Alabama Ballet, and performed with the Tuscaloosa Community Dancers starting at the age of 8.

As a young dancer, Alden toured with the Radio City Christmas Spectacular performing the role of "Clara". She was the 2012 Tuscaloosa County Distinguished Young Woman and was granted the Druid Arts Award for Dance Artist of 2013. Alden pursued her dance training at the State University of New York at Purchase where she graduated Summa Cum Laude with a BFA in Dance Performance and a minor in Arts Management. At Purchase, she had the privilege to perform works by George Balanchine, Martha Graham, Jose Limon, Kimberly Bartosik, Sarah Mettin, John Heginbotham, Jason Parsons, and Claire Porter among others. She was also selected to perform at New York Live Arts for two seasons with the Purchase Dance Company. While training at Purchase, she spent her summers participating in programs such as San Francisco Conservatory and Impulstanz International Dance Festival in Vienna, Austria. Professionally, she has danced with project-based company CBGDance in New York City and toured with Odyssey Dance Theater in Utah for their "Thriller" production.

She is the Artistic Director of Tuscaloosa Community Dancers. She has directed TCD's Nutcracker for three seasons, directed and choreographed TCD’s 2018 Spring Show, Benjamin Britten's “Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra” performed with the Tuscaloosa Symphony Orchestra, and TCD’s 2020 Spring Show, featuring excerpts from Cinderella, a premiere of her contemporary work, and a guest performance of George Balanchine's "Tchaikovsky Pas De Deux” from Miami City Ballet dancers.