University Dance Theater Fall Concert "Reach"

REACH features choreography by faculty member Joanie Smith and visiting artists Maria Bauman and Jordan Demetrius Lloyd, performed by University dance program students at The Cowles Center for Dance & Performing Arts.

Mixing joy, sadness, and anger into one show, REACH sets the tone for the upcoming season. With themes such as bodily autonomy, reaching towards the future and back to the past, Dance students come together to perform emotional, original pieces that will leave you wanting more.

Joanie Smith, a faculty member at The University of Minnesota’s Theatre Arts & Dance department and founder of Shapiro & Smith Dance, brings original pieces Moonlight and Ferdouganal to the stage. With a heavy emphasis on reproductive rights and bodily autonomy, Smith sheds light on the power of coming together and demanding change through imagery of marching, protests, and speaking up for what you believe in.

Based in Brooklyn, New York, Jordan Demetrius Lloyd and award winning Maria Bauman bring fresh choreography for the University’s Dance students. Incorporating nature and original composition, Bauman and collaborator Audrey Hailes address the question, “How can being better stewards of this planet help us become better stewards of our own bodies and of each other?”. Also incorporating naturalistic themes, Lloyd, who is known for his postmodernism work, has previously mentioned that he feels a “deep aversion to branding [himself] as the artist that does a thing”. Lloyd says that an “unidirectional career” is not what he is after, leaving his audiences with something fresh, memorable, and impactful every time.

Buy Tickets!

Saturday November 18, 2023, 7:30 p.m.

Sunday November 19, 2023, 2:00 p.m.