DanceMakers returns Nov. 14-16

Nov. 12, 2024 – DENTON – The pieces making up this year's fall DanceMakers deal with some pretty diverse concepts. It's a mix of Egyptian queen meets alien goddess, jazz solo dance, contemporary ballet folklórico, dynamic time shift and a taste of the Rio Grande Valley.

"One thing we like to ask our students is, what kind of dance do you want to see in the world?" said Elisa De La Rosa, assistant professor of dance and choreographer of the concert's final piece. "What kind of dance do you want to see? What are you hungry to see? Make that. Make what you want to see in the world."

DanceMakers will take the stage of the Margo Jones Performance Hall in the Music Building for three shows: Thursday, Nov. 14, at 4 p.m.; and Friday, Nov. 15, and Saturday, Nov. 16, at 7:30 p.m.

Several dancers are in multiple pieces, testing their endurance and ability to make rapid costume changes.

"We have students who are making dances, they're at their junior-senior level of where they can take the choreography class, and then they're also in performance," De La Rosa said. "So many of them are dancing in each other's work or their own. We talk to them at the beginning of the semester and say, 'are you sure you want to do that?' But when you're a dance professional, you may be in multiple works. You have quick changes. This is teaching them how to do a quick change."

The final piece of the evening is De La Rosa's “Soñadoras,” which means dreamers in English.

"It's a piece about immigration," De La Rosa said. "There's parts of it that feel like being in a dream, and it's them dreaming of being able to cross into America for a better life. My hope is to bring awareness to the human aspect."

The dance tells the story of De La Rosa's maternal grandmother as an immigrant in the 1950s.

"I'm interviewing her, and her voice is embedded in the piece so she's sharing her family's story coming from Mexico in the 1950s, traveling across the Rio Grande River into Texas, coming to the United States," De La Rosa said. "She's speaking her language, which is Spanish. But what's really cool about it is that I have incorporated images that are going to be projected to match what she's saying. So that projection is happening as the dance begins with her voice speaking. After that, there's another collaboration between a filmmaker and myself that projects an immigrant's perspective."

The piece features Elizabeth Alfonso, Mariangel Cerero, Kennedy Glover and Brittany Padilla, staff instructor and dance musician, who makes music live with objects, such as the water bottles immigrants carry on their journey. Leoncarlo Canlas, a musician on staff in the TWU Division of Dance, created the sound score.

Six student-choreographed pieces round out the show:

“Omni Trium Perfectum"
choreographer: Carla Rodriguez Oliva
dancers: Cadence Banks, Sofia Morales, Carla Rodriguez Oliva

"It's three women of color," De La Rosa said. "In the music, there's a line that says, nobody knows these hard times we're going through, but something is countering that. So their dancing is so beautiful that there's a vibe and an energy. They're strong, they're pushing through, and they're moving together."

“Tantalizing Interludes”
choreographer: Cadence Banks
dancers: Cadence Banks, Emily Boyd, Savanna Gleaves, Carla Rodriguez Oliva, Jordan Schonhoff

"I would say her work is Afrofuturism," De La Rosa said. "In the world that she created, there's these ideas of Egyptian queen meets alien goddess. Lots of really cool use of the spine. Really interesting ways of moving."

“This is Not About You”
choreographer: Millenique Brown
dancers: Melanie Diaz

"Millenique Brown created this amazing solo to a piece of jazz music," De La Rosa said. "To be a dance soloist is really challenging, and Millenique worked with Melanie and they created something really, really beautiful, really strong. Millenique did a wonderful job of coaching Melanie."

“Cultivadores de Energìa”
choreographer: Ilse Maìte
dancers: Alejandra Acosta Muñoz, Alexy Quiroga, Ashley Miller, Elida Saucedo, Tiffany Vasher, Trinity Kyelynn Jones

"Ilse Maite created a contemporary ballet folklorico piece," De La Rosa said. "There's a board hidden behind the curtains, and the dancers are doing a lot of footwork on the board. So the piece starts with footwork you don't see. She has a big cast, and they come out and they do folklorico elements in a contemporary way without the ballet folklorico shoes. It's beautifully designed with lots of dancers moving through space, dancing with each other through footwork and arm work inspired by ballet folklorico but in a contemporary way."

“Facets of Being: An Empaths Tale"
choreographer: Amanda Laabs
dancers: Trinity Kyelynn Jones, Shanya Morris, Lizette Rivera

"This is really amazing because it kind of has this, what is time?" De La Rosa said. "Time almost doesn't exist. It almost feels like you're in a dream and then out of nowhere there's dynamic shift and the time gets faster. We're taught that time is linear, but indigenous peoples believe that time is past, present and future all mixed up in a spiral way.”

“Conform”
choreographer: Veronica Ramirez
dancers: Lily Miller, Nayla Mireles, Shanya Morris, Ashley Petersen, Kaley Randles

"Veronica Ramirez is an undergraduate choreographer and her work is really beautiful," De La Rosa said. "It has these beautiful lines and jumps and energy and lots of technical movement. I think it'll be really exciting for our audience to see our TW dancers dancing in this way. It has nice lines, jumps, lots of power and energy."

Tickets are $10 for general admission and $5 for students.