Photo Caption: "The Alchemy of Bantaba." Photo by Marco Calderon.

Emma Forster from Tinton Falls, NJ danced in "Grief, it brings the need, the naked freeze" by Heidi Cruz-Austin and "traces left within" by guest artist, Tommie-Waheed Evans in the "In Motion" concert in Muhlenberg College's Empie Theatre, Baker Center for the Arts. Forster majors in Dance and Biology.

The Muhlenberg College Dance program presented seven world-premiere dance pieces in its annual faculty and guest artist-choreographed concert, "In Motion," Feb. 8-10, 2024. A new work by Guggenheim fellow Tommie-Waheed Evans, a queer Black dance maker based in Philadelphia, headlined the concert.

Each year, members of Muhlenberg's dance faculty present a diverse range of perspectives on dance. Dance faculty member Natalie Gotter-the concert's artistic director and one of seven choreographers-emphasized the abundant energy that set this year's iteration of "In Motion" apart. Gotter said the concert will showcase the largest variety of styles ever seen on the Muhlenberg stage, including tap, contemporary ballet, punk, modern, diasporic dances, and hip-hop.

"This show is personal, explosive, and emotional," Gotter said. "It will give the audience space to feel empathy, to learn something new, and to experience movement through all of their senses."

The concert featured a world premiere work by guest artist Tommie-Waheed Evans. His piece, "traces left within," aimed to "transcend time," intertwining an urban street style with contemporary dance movement.

"We're honored to have a brand new work by Tommie choreographed on our students," Gotter said, "providing a curated intersection of ballet and Black dance traditions through collaborative work with students."

Veteran dance faculty member Samuel Antonio Reyes has created the department's first faculty-choreographed hip-hop dance piece. His street theater dance work "THE LEDGE" features both student and faculty performers. "Street theater presents hip-hop movement that portrays the struggles and the culture of street society," he said, "from the neighborhoods of the less fortunate."

Elizabeth June Bergman's choreography explored how different communities and performance genres have embodied the rebellious spirit of punk ideology. "Dance Punk!" travels in time to the '70s and '80s subcultures of punk rock, disco, dance punk, and ballet through the early 2000s hipster scene. "The work presents a vision of some of the many ways that people have 'danced punk' as a way to resist conformity, challenge the status quo, and find joy together," Bergman said.

Tap choreographer Robyn Watson aimed to "find new majestic discoveries within repetition" in her new piece, "rinse. repeat." Through different tempos, time signatures, and rhythmic patterns, the piece examines routine and repetition and explores methods for uncovering innovation through repetition. "How does routine feel new when it is frequently repeated?" she said. "Is it time? Is it space?"

In "Not the Least Afraid," Natalie Gotter and her dancers grappled with notions of risk, trust, and energy in a collaborative, intensely physical modern piece. "We worked with the physical embodiment of 'taking the next step' and talked about the grief, joy, and the complications of moving on and letting go," she said. "We have built relationships, looked to the future, and trusted our intuition to craft this work."

Inspired by the words of revered Black American choreographer Katherine Dunham and the music of Puerto Rican Latin Jazz artist Tito Puente, Anito Gavino set out to tell a two-part narrative showing the spiritual connection dance has to roots in many cultures. The work's title, "The Alchemy of Bantaba," refers to an African word referring to a community's traditional meeting place, often under a large tree.

Heidi Cruz-Austin has created a work titled "Grief, it brings the need, the naked freeze," which explores what remains after love is lost. "I was interested in digging into what happens internally when we navigate the aftermath of love," Cruz-Austin said. "Each section of the piece represents a different stage of grief or loss: denial, anger, depression, and acceptance."

Gotter said she looked forward to sharing the concert's diverse range of perspectives with an audience. "All of the pieces are as unique as the choreographers," she said, "highlighting the vast choreographic talent of our dance faculty members and the professionalism of our student dancers as they take on multiple ways of moving."

"This show is personal, explosive, and emotional. It will give the audience space to feel empathy, to learn something new, and to experience movement through all of their senses." - Natalie Gotter, Artistic Director