Alums Return For Weekend Performances
The Washington and Lee University Department of Theatre, Dance and Film Studies will present the award-winning W&L Repertory Dance Company this weekend in a program of multifaceted dance works created by alumni, faculty, and nationally renowned choreographers.
The program will be held in the Lenfest Center for the Arts March 26-27 at 7:30 p.m. and March 28 at 2 p.m. Tickets can be purchased at (540) 458-8000 or online at https://my.wlu.edu/lenfestcenter/ wandl-repertorydance- company.
The concert celebrates the dance program’s 20th anniversary as an academic program at Washington and Lee. To honor the milestone, W&L dance alums from the past two decades are returning to Lexington as choreographers and dancers to perform with the 40-member student dance company, and to participate in related round table discussions with current students and teach master classes.
The fully produced performance contains two works from professional guest artists, two alumni screendances, three choreographic works created by alums, and two dances by artistic director and dance professor Jenefer Davies. -Three of the works on the program are the result of residencies. Guest choreographer Noelani Pantastico is a former principal dancer with Pacific Northwest Ballet and Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo, who cofounded Seattle Dance Collective, and, upon retiring from performing, served as artistic director of the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet.
She spent a week on campus creating “Passage,” which explores the inner structure of a difficult decision. It navigates the tension between the comfort of a familiar identity and the uncertainty of a new one, recognizing the fear of loss that comes with significant change and the possibilities beyond the threshold of a new chapter.
An encore performance from the fall concert, “The Head is Not the Star of the Body,” is an excerpted work by Cassie Wang, who is a Boston-based interdisciplinary artist exploring mediums within the framework of contemporary dance performance. Her artistic endeavors embody a relentless pursuit for an understanding of self in relation to surrounding circumstances.
Ashley Shugart, a 2022
JANE HALLORAN W&L dance company and visual artist alumna, returned to campus to complete a dance work begun in the fall of 2024. Her piece, entitled “Point to Point,” is an experiment in tying her practice as a visual artist with her work as a choreographer. It is a step in answering the question: how can visual art inspire movement?
Speaking about curating the residencies, Artistic Director Davies said, “Bringing guest artists to campus gives the students the opportunity to experience a professional dance environment, learn innovative, new works and teaching methodologies, and practice embodied learning.”
The evening also includes the culmination of a fouryear choreographic journey, titled “Wallf lowers/Wildflowers,” by Davies. Her new choreographic work explores marginalization and gender inequality through satire, and shines a light on the hidden work of being a woman. Alumni dancers in the piece include Kitty Lambrechts Brink ‘19, Katie Daly ‘21, Kaitlin Coughlin DeLuca ‘15, Runa King ‘21, Sara Dotterer ‘18, and Amalia Nafal Bosch ’21 who will join 28 student dancers.
Alumni guest dancers/choreographers include Runa King ‘21 And Sara Dotterer ‘18 who created a duet “Ritual,” that celebrates a “quiet return to the body.” “Navigating Attractor Landscapes” is also choreographed by King and is danced by her, along with Mary Pace Lewis ’21 and Amalia Nafal Bouch ’21. Bosch will also perform a solo created by Professor Davies entitled “This Macaroni and Cheese Crayon Tastes Like Wax.” Elliot Emadian ’17 and Sara Dotterer ’17 created an art installation/dance pre-show installation for the Lenfest Center lobby that will invite audiences to move. Dotterer and Nacho Portela ’15 both created screendances that include performances by other alums.
Portela will also teach a master class in improvisation called “Movement Tools,” and Zaq Lawal ’12 will teach a master class called “Afro-Beats and Mindfulness.” Both master classes are open to all in the community and require no previous dance experience.
Said Davies, “The addition of dance alumni to the concert this year demonstrates to the students that their dance education and performance opportunities last long beyond college. I’m excited for students to witness how the lessons and skills learned through a dance education is transferable to any career.”
A full program of dance events, which also includes an open Saturday morning Salsa class, can be found at https:// www.wlu.edu/theater-danceand- film-studies-department/ about-the-department/dance. wandl-dance-20th-anniversary.
