Colorado State University’s School of Music, Theatre and Dance opened its annual Spring Dance Concert April 18 and 19, featuring a variety of genres such as contemporary, ballet, modern, West African and flamenco.

The concert featured dynamic choreography and expressive movement, each telling a unique story through dance, music, costumes and lighting.

“It’s what I would call a repertory concert,” said Concert Director Judy Bejarano. “Instead of an evening-length concert with one singular theme that is threaded through the whole thing, a repertory concert just means that there is basically anything that the choreographer has put forward.”

The concert featured original choreography by three staff members, Madeline Harvey, Susie Garifi and Godwin Abotsi, and a selection of student choreographers. Throughout the 90-minute performance, eight pieces were presented, designed to tell a story and evoke emotion.

The event showcased pieces about empowerment, loss, the current state of the world and a West African piece that was supplemented with live drumming.

Jordan Santry, a student choreographer, created a piece titled “Fractured,” which explored the combination of fluid and erratic movements. Her piece evoked an ominous and eerie feeling through the intense lighting, choreography and stylistic choice of the dancers wearing black lace masks.

“’Fractured’ is about exploring personification of different versions of a person and how they can coexist and interact with each other,” Santry said.

Another student-choreographed piece, “Muyè,” by Hannah Essig, served as a call to action — a desire to seek dance and movement. Performed by five dancers, the piece explored the tension between repression and release. Two dancers struggled with the rejection of movement, while the remaining three embraced it, creating a visual contrast between resistance and acceptance.

“There is a festering feeling that shows up many times throughout the piece,” Essig wrote in a snippet from the production form. “There are also feelings of joy, release, anxiety, etc. But while evoking these different feelings, I want the audience to feel as if the dancers are controlling the music.”

The first section of the piece played with energy and hesitation. When the music shifted to a more upbeat tone, the dancers responded with freer movements, representing the acceptance of rhythm and release. The piece as a whole maintained a strong sense of musicality, underscoring the power of movement.

“Dance is a temporal art form, I mean, goes by and it’s gone, right? Of course, now we can video, photo it and document it in many, many ways. But oftentimes, that’s it. It’s kind of a moment in time when you’re watching a piece, to give yourself that sense of, ‘I’m here now, watching this piece that will be gone.’” -Judy Bejarano, Spring Dance Concert director

Beyond dancing and choreography, the pieces had notable costumes and lighting that aided in the storytelling element.

“There’s so much more to it than just the dancers on the stage,” Santry said. “It takes a village.”

The dancers and choreographers worked closely with multiple departments to bring the concert to life. Lighting played a key role in shaping the mood of each piece, matching the beats of the music and using shapes and spotlights to guide the audience’s focus. Each performance featured a color palette, and in some cases, projections were used to deepen the narrative created by the choreographers.

Costumes, created in collaboration between choreographers and the costume department, also reflected and enhanced the vision of each work by representing the intended characters of the pieces.

“I focused on a layered effect,” Essig said regarding the costumes for her piece, “Muyè.”

Dancers wore baggy pants combined with gray long-sleeved shirts with dark sleeves, adding contrasting dimension. To differentiate the moods, the two dancers representing the rejection of music donned cropped versions of the shirts, while the others’ shirts were tucked into their pants.

Visuals and press releases are a crucial aspect of the production that the School of Music, Theatre and Dance communications office assists with.

Within the intimate space of the University Dance Theatre, artistic movement and all elements of production enabled audience members to immerse themselves in the stories and performances.

“What brings the authenticity to the table is just something new, something fresh and something that evokes feelings for the audience that maybe they’re not used to feeling or seeing,” Santry said.

The concert showcased unique movements and interpretations of traditional genres like modern and contemporary dance styles that may be unfamiliar to some audiences.

This personal approach allowed choreographers and dancers to express their own stories and emotions through movement. The concert’s high artistic level and nontraditional elements made for a captivating experience, allowing performers to fully demonstrate their creativity and talent.

“Dance is a temporal art form, I mean, goes by and it’s gone, right?” Bejarano said. “Of course, now we can video, photo it and document it in many, many ways. But oftentimes, that’s it. It’s kind of a moment in time when you’re watching a piece, to give yourself that sense of, ‘I’m here now, watching this piece that will be gone.’”

The Spring 2025 Dance Concert provided a unique opportunity for both faculty and student choreographers to bring their artistic visions to life, revealing the range of emotions and stories dance can convey.

Through collaboration among multiple departments, the performance highlighted not only the talent of the dancers but also the importance of lighting, costumes and design in enhancing storytelling. Each piece captured a fleeting yet powerful moment of creative expression, demonstrating the beauty of dance as a temporary yet impactful art form.

Reach Aubrey Means at entertainment@collegian.com or on Twitter @CSUCollegian.