A dancer who grew up twirling across studio floors in Lenexa is about to step onto the biggest stage of her hometown region’s concert calendar. Katie McCluskey, a 27-year-old Shawnee-born professional dancer now based in Los Angeles, will perform with Mötley Crüe at the Morton Amphitheater in Riverside, Missouri on Monday as part of the band’s Return of the Carnival of Sins tour.
McCluskey is one of four dancers touring with the band on the 33-city run, according to the Kansas City Star. The tour kicked off July 17, 2026, in Burgettstown, Pennsylvania, and is set to wrap September 26 in Ridgefield, Washington, according to Hoodline, which also covered the tour’s stop in Charlotte last month. Fellow 1980s hard rock acts Extreme and Tesla round out the bill on the road.
Among the crew, McCluskey’s Riverside stop has reportedly taken on its own nickname. Per the Star, dancers, crew, and members of Mötley Crüe itself have taken to calling the Monday date “Katie’s show” — a nod to the homecoming nature of the performance for the Shawnee native who now calls Los Angeles home, where she has lived for the past five years.
From Lenexa Studio to National Stages
McCluskey began her dance career at a studio in Lenexa, choosing dance instead of soccer as a kid, per the Star. She trained in classical styles like ballet along with competition-style dancing, a foundation that eventually carried her to the University of Arizona, where she graduated in 2020 with a bachelor’s degree in fine arts…