Intersections & Connections

Spring '26 Dance Concert

Intersections and Connections showcases a variety of works choreographed by our esteemed Dance faculty and performed by our students of the Saint Mary’s College Dance Company and Baile Folklórico Guadalupano. The concert will feature Baile Folklórico (Mexican folk dance), Modern/Contemporary Dance, Tap and West African Dance. There will be some special pieces performed by the seniors in Baile Folklórico Guadalupano, West African Dance, and a piece choreographed for the seniors by Prof. Jia Wu in collaboration with the class of '26 dancers. Join us for this special dance concert, and enjoy the talent of our award-winning students. 

Tickets are on sale here.

Thursday, May 7 at 8pm
Friday, May 8 at 8pm
Saturday, May 9 at 2:30pm & 8pm

There is no livestream for this concert, but reach out to Tara at tms8@stmarys-ca.edu if you'd like to make a donation for an on-demand version available about two weeks after the show.

Parking: Text "PAY" to 77447 and type in the lot as "SMC" when requested. Parking is 50 cents per hour, and the concert will probably be around two hours. Parking is typically available in the Soda Center parking lots or across the street in the gravel lot between the Museum of Art and Syufy Performing Arts Hall.

Additional THINGS TO KNOW BEFORE YOU GO will be posted here in the coming weeks.

Press Release:
The Expressive & Performing Arts Division of Saint Mary’s College presents the Saint Mary’s College Dance Company’s annual spring dance concert “Intersections and Connections” which features a variety of works choreographed by our esteemed Dance faculty and performed by our students of the Saint Mary’s College Dance Company and Baile Folklórico Guadalupano. The concert will feature Baile Folklórico (Mexican folk dance), Modern/Contemporary Dance, Tap and West African Dance. The evening is supported by our resident Lighting Designer, Matthew Cohen. 

Faculty members created dances that speak to the issues of our world. Choreographer Shaunna Vella asks, “What if the great American political divide was also, somehow, a love story? Polarized the Power Ballad  is a dance theatre piece that examines how the American political system has become increasingly polarized, but also in a dramatic and obsessive love/ hate spectacle. Dancers use absurdity and satire to investigate what it means to be divided by different teams, and the dance questions how people can work together by remembering a time when people were more unified to find common ground. 

Dana Lawtons’s Shards of Light is a modern dance piece inspired by the luminous geometry of stained glass windows, those fractured, radiant mosaics that hold both story and spirit. Dancers carve the space with angular sweeps and prismatic shifts, their bodies catching and refracting imagined beams of color. The choreography moves between stillness and shattering release, evoking the way light pours through brokenness to create something unexpectedly whole. At its heart, Shards of Light is a meditation on transformation, revealing how brilliance emerges when we let our fragments illuminate the room.

The composition, in a twinkling of an eye, choreographed by Rogelio Lopez presents a dynamic, energetic movement ensemble unfolding at a rapid tempo. It captures the essence of our lives, akin to a whirlwind that swirls around us, only to vanish in the blink of an eye. The underlying message speaks poignantly to the current state of our world, where the essence of humanity and compassion often seems to be overshadowed by the relentless pace of modern life. In this frenetic atmosphere, the stark realization looms: if we do not pause to care for one another, we may soon face a future in which we are all just fleeting memories.

Unrest is a modern dance work that examines what it feels like to be unsettled. From our current sociopolitical climate to our personal experiences, it can be hard to be grounded, to find peace and connect. The dancers flail and fall through space never finding center. This unrest is exhausting, yet only from this place of collapse do we find recuperation and connections to rebuild as a community. 

Crystaldawn Bell is creating a work that is based on experiencing a loss, the openness to move forward, but not actually being able to overcome the loss/mourning despite efforts. Using a post-modern aesthetic, this group piece asks us how to make connections and interact when things are hard. 

The West African dance is titled Ahombrase and builds on the characteristics of humility, gentleness and wisdom. Ahombrase teaches us to pay attention, see each other, help each other and wake up to what is around us so that we may excel in all aspects of life and be our best selves. Master Drummer and choreographer Pope Flyne will create an original score for the dance and perform it live. He has also created a dance just for the Advanced West African Dance Ensemble seniors titled “They Are Coming” because this group of people are agents of change and will make an impact on our world. 

Tap artist and choreographer Micah Sallid is co-creating a trio to showcase some of our most advanced tap dancers. This trio plays with the Jazz and African traditions of “call and response,” using syncopation in unison as well as the hoofing technique of improvisation with dancers playing off of one another. The process, choreography, and music embody the concert theme of intersections and connections.

Our Baile Folklórico troupe will also perform works from Guerrero, Mexico, De la Montaña and Tierra Caliente, choreographed by Rogelio Lopez. Guerrero is a place of intersectionality blending the Indigenous traditions of Nahua, Mixtec, Tlapanec, Amuzgo with their African Spanish heritage. Baile Folklórico Guadalupano will also feature a dance celebrating our graduating seniors. 

The evening will culminate in a dance for all seniors by Jia Wu, co-created with the students. This dance celebrates these graduating dancers at this moment: brilliant artists, beautiful beings, and emerging voices stepping into a new chapter. The work honors their individuality, growth, and the shared journey we have built together over the past four years. At its heart, the piece is an offering of gratitude for their trust, courage, vulnerability, and artistry. It is both a reflection and a farewell; a space to honor all they have become, and all they are still becoming.