“Collective Motion: Dance Across Wyoming,” an eclectic dance concert showcasing the
dynamism of movement and the power of collaborative expression, presented by the University
of Wyoming Department of Theatre and Dance, is coming to the main stage at the Buchanan
Center for the Performing Arts.
Performances will take place at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, March 6-7, with a pay-what-you-can
matinee Sunday, March 8, at 2 p.m.
Tickets are available at www.tix.com/ticket-sales/uwyo/6984, in person or at (307) 766-6666 at the Performing Arts box office, Monday through
Friday, noon- 6 p.m. and one hour before performances.
“Collective Motion” represents the culmination of a rigorous creative process that
began in fall 2025. The production features six world-premiere original works that
explore themes ranging from the unpredictability of memory to the “Code of the West”
to the cosmic dynamics of momentum and friction.
Choreographers include UW faculty members Aaron Wood, Sarah Lass and Beth Twigs, alongside
guest artists Francesca Romo and Michaela Ellingson, of Jackson-based Contemporary
Dance Wyoming; Nicholas Cendese, of the nationally acclaimed Repertory Dance Theatre
based in Salt Lake City, Utah; and Betsy Miller of betsy miller dance projects, out
of Salem, Mass.
The concert opens with “An Unpredictable History,” choreographed by Cendese and UW
dancers, which investigates the kinesthetic nature of memory. Set to Daft Punk, the
piece portrays how emotional experiences shift and become volatile when revisited
through the body.
“Code of the West” -- a collaboration by Miller, Cat Kamrath and Lass, accompanied
by Morton Feldman’s “Rothko Chapel” -- uses a dancer’s lens to interrogate the diverse
possibilities and lived realities of womanhood in the United States today.
“How Do I Land,” conceived by Romo with Ellingson, shifts toward a macroscopic perspective.
Utilizing a diverse soundscape -- from Aphex Twin to Juliana Barwick -- it mirrors
the “quiet chaos” of the cosmos, navigating friction and momentum, translating celestial
forces into human connection and collective motion.
Lass’ “Other Rooms,” created in collaboration with UW dancers Mikaela Ancira, Callisto
Hager-Leaf, Zoe Joralemon and Brooklyn Lewis, explores the uncanny. Set to Pamela
Z’s atmospheric score, dancers navigate a world where the conscious and unconscious
merge, creating a defamiliarized landscape where new connections emerge from the shadows
of the past.
Wood’s “Orderly Disordered” investigates the tension between structure and chaos.
Accompanied by Michael Wall’s “Gap in the Wall,” the performance examines the thin
line between precise configuration and organic breakdown, using collaborative movement
to deconstruct conventional boundaries of cause, effect and physical space.
Closing out the concert is Twigs’ “Everything is Fine,” which examines the fragility
of the “fine” facade in an increasingly chaotic world. Set to Michael Galasso’s minimalist
score, the work uses rhythmic repetition and stark spatial levels to mirror the cycle
of maintaining composure while under pressure.
For more information, email Wood at Aaron.Wood@uwyo.edu or Lass at slass2@uwyo.edu.
