Nourishing the artistic development of students in Tennessee’s only full Bachelor of Science degree in dance at a public university is paying off beautifully for Midstate audiences with the MTSU Dance Theatre’s 2023 Spring Dance Concert.

Set Thursday through Saturday, April 20-22, at 7:30 p.m. inside Middle Tennessee State University’s Tucker Theatre in Boutwell Dramatic Arts Auditorium at 615 Champion Way, the evenings’ performances by the MTSU Dance Program’s pre-professional company include faculty, student and guest-artist choreographed dances.

Tickets for each performance are $10 general admission and $5 for K-12 students and seniors and are available at https://bit.ly/MTSpringDance2023Tickets. A campus map is available at https://bit.ly/MTSUParking.

MTSU students, faculty and staff can attend free by presenting a current university ID at the Tucker Theatre box office. The venue is fully accessible for people with disabilities, including those with hearing, vision or mobility impairments.

Themes of this spring’s dances include family memories, playful expressions of music, obsessions with danger, and the desire to conform but remain an individual.

A featured performance, “Noble Sorrow,” boasts a collaboration with Chicago-based guest artist Kia Smith, this semester’s artist-in-residence for MTSU dance students.

Founder and executive artistic director of the South Chicago Dance Theatre, the company’s resident choreographer and founder of its signature programs that include the South Chicago Dance Festival and Choreographic Diplomacy Program, Smith was on campus Feb. 10-12 for her MTSU residency.

Program Director Jade Treadwell, an assistant professor of dance in MTSU’s Department of Theatre and Dance, called their collaboration, made possible by the university’s Distinguished Lecture Fund, “an enriching and intensive creative process reflective of the current professional concert dance landscape. ‘Noble Sorrow’ presents a riveting intertwining of contemporary dance athleticism, artistry and intricate partnering.”

Faculty contemporary dance works in this spring’s event also include:

• MTSU alumnus and dance lecturer Aaron Allen Jr.’s “Love, Terry,” which honors his late grandmother.

• Lecturer Alexandra Winer’s “Siren,” which explores the fascinations of being called to danger and how one should find, or want, safety.

• Dance Program Coordinator Kimberly Holt’s “By Design,” a ballet piece inspired by the architecture of music composed by Steve Reich.

Student choreographer Catherine Bright’s “Occupied” is also a contemporary piece that she said “explores the individual experience from the start of the day to its finish. It has been so wonderful to expand upon this notion of self-exploration in a lighthearted way throughout this semester.”

The Spring Dance Concert is concluding the 11th season of the College of Liberal Arts’ “MTSU Arts” brand for the university’s fine arts programs.

MTSU’s Bachelor of Science degree in dance guides students in dance technique, history and theory alongside kinesiology, anatomy and healthy training for the body. One course of dance study focuses on performance and choreography, while the other track concentrates on teaching and practice.

For more information about MTSU’s dance program or the MTSU Dance Theatre, which are part of the Department of Theatre and Dance in the university’s College of Liberal Arts, call 615-904-8051, email dance@mtsu.edu, or visit www.mtsu.edu/dance.

For details on MTSU Arts events and supporting its student arts programs in the Patrons Society, visit www.mtsu.edu/mtsuarts.

— Gina E. Fann (gina.fann@mtsu.edu)