The UNCG School of Dance proudly announces the upcoming Senior BFA Thesis Concert, Individually Together, premiering April 24 and 25 at 7:30 PM in the School of Dance’s Coleman Theatre. This highly anticipated performance showcases original works by eleven emerging choreographers whose creative voices reflect a dynamic blend of personal exploration, rigorous practice, and artistic ambition.
Individually Together celebrates the power of community while honoring the distinct perspectives of each artist. Through diverse movement styles and innovative approaches, these senior choreographers have cultivated a collaborative environment that supports individuality and inspires creative risk-taking. The result is an evening of compelling, thought-provoking dance that captures both the intimacy of personal expression and the strength of collective artistry. Audiences are invited to experience this vibrant culmination of undergraduate study as a testament to dedication, growth, and the transformative power of dance.
Ashleigh Bellestri will be presenting a piece called The Echoes Keep Changing, in which dancers and the audience are invited to explore experiences of human connection and interaction. This piece asks the question if there’s anything in life that you can ever repeat, especially if it’s something you think you’ve already encountered.
Madison Brown’s “Half In, Half Known” is a choreographic work that serves as a visual exploration of what it feels like for Brown to remain emotionally present in relationships that never fully settle into clarity. The piece reflects themes of separation from the collective as well as a sense of uncertainty embodied by the dancers. Through this process, Brown has come to understand the importance of guarding her heart and recognizing that it is okay to step away from people or situations that do not support her growth. Instead, her work emphasizes the value of nurturing meaningful connections, choosing depth over quantity, and investing in relationships that are reciprocal, grounding, and genuine.
Hailey Burnett has produced Personal Misperceptions, which display memory as movement. IN this work, Burnett explores choreographic variations as to how verbal re-tells of memories can shift over time. The piece reveals an embodied amalgamation of memories that have shifted throughout time. The performers embody these shifting recollections, creating a physical representation of how memories blend and transform. By sharing and reshaping their own stories on stage, they invite the audience to reflect on their personal experiences and consider how their own memories may have changed throughout their lives.
Mac Koffa will premiere Veil Over Bone, in a social commentary on the divine feminine, reframing femininity as an embodied force rather than an aesthetic ideal. Inspired by queer art and the writing of Judith Butler, Veil Over Bone unfolds in three stages: primordial, true reality, and transcendence. Challenging traditional gender signifiers and offering a vision of femininity rooted in power, fluidity, and liberation.
Leah Mahone will be showcasing a piece titled Emergence. This work will carry the audience three phrases of transformation, chaos, growth, and return – guided by spirit, memory, and lived experience. Rooted in her identity as a Black woman, the piece draws from cycles found in nature, unraveling, shedding, and becoming. The work moves as one body, carrying the weight of shifting thoughts, pressure, and release, like wind, water, and storm. The work unfolds like a story passed down – where the body speaks, the spirit remembers, and nothing is lost, only transformed. The stage becomes a space of transition, where past and present meet, and a new sense of self emerges – grounded, whole, and in alignment.
Taniya Medlin presents Hurricane “Femina”, showcasing how the rage of women is always present. Deep, often quiet anger shaped by being overlooked or unheard. It can build slowly or surface all at once. Maybe it’s really not a big deal, but you can’t help how the feelings bubble. At its core, it’s about demanding respect, expressing yourself, and having a voice. Own your rage. Show your wrath. Force the hard truths to be swallowed.
Naja Payoute’s work explores what happens when multiple stories unfold at once while still pointing towards the same truth. Rooted in codified and culturally driven movement, the work grows from in process journaling that invites dancers to explore through vulnerability with intention. While each performer carries a different weight from personal stories, it raised questions about how individuality and unity can exist side by side. How can they just listen.
PRICEless Love will be presented as a part of the BFA Thesis Concert, featuring new choreography and performance by UNCG Dance senior Jaden Price-McKinney. The piece draws inspiration from the enduring devotion shared between her grandparents, a bond that established the foundation for generations of her family. Through three unique viewpoints, her grandmother’s, her grandfather’s, and her own, the work examines how love is experienced, remembered, and sustained. Audience members will observe the impact of community, underscoring the importance of collective support in shaping their narrative. At its core, the piece embodies a love given unconditionally and without measure, as Jaden notes, the work ultimately honors the strength and resilience of Black love, celebrating how it endures and is passed down through generations, remaining truly priceless.
Georgia Rood’s iteration of “Rite of Spring” is a meditation on sacrifice, focusing only on the introduction of the ballet. Inspired by the 19th century ballet, this work is fully improvised in its story, but each performance carries memories of the one prior as the choices the dancers make carry on towards the next show. The final piece is the result of hundreds of conversations, held over and over again through process, but the performance is in what the dancers themselves want to say. Choreographed by Georgia Rood and performed with soloists Joshua Poole and Landry Willson, this piece will premiere during the UNCG BFA Thesis Showcase Individually Together.
Kaylee Sauls’ Majoring in Me explores the transformative journey of college beyond the books. It captures the moment of recognizing one’s growth into an authentic and evolving identity. Through this experience, the collegiate path becomes more than a degree- it becomes a foundation for the future. As students transition beyond this chapter, they carry forward the knowledge, challenges, and self-discovery that shape their next steps. That future stands as a blank page, informed by both past and present selves, where each individual begins to author their own narrative. One that is grounded, intentional, and well, still unwritten.
Carina Young’s work Fruition explores the action of producing fruit, not just as a biological process, but as a spiritual, emotional, and communal one. Inspired by her original solo of the same title, Fruition, this expanded ensemble work examines what it means to grow, ripen, and offer oneself fully to the world.
