Celebrating a Half Century of Excellence
BOONE, N.C. – The 2025 Spring Appalachian Dance Ensemble (SADE) is celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Ensemble with 7 p.m. concerts from Wednesday through Saturday, March 26 to 29 with a 2 p.m. matinee on Sunday March 30 in the Valborg Theatre on the campus of Appalachian State University. Tickets are $17 for adults, $15 for faculty and staff, and $10 for students. They are available online through the department website at theatreanddance.appstate.edu, as well by phone at 800-841-ARTS (2787) or in person at the Schaefer Center for the Arts box office.
The Saturday March 29 performance includes an afternoon social for alumni at Parallel Brewing Company, 114 Clement Street in Boone, and a post-concert celebration and reception in the Valborg Theatre lobby.
Original choreography is being created by Theatre and Dance faculty members, alumni choreographers, and students currently enrolled as Dance Studies majors. The concert series will include clips from past performances and a memorial tribute to the late Associate Professor Susan Lutz. Each night, current dance students will perform with collaboration and support from design and technical theatre faculty and students. This creative team includes lighting designer Professor John Marty, costume designer Assistant Professor Saloni Mahajan, and Assistant Professor of Dance Studies Chris Yon, who is mentoring the student choreographers and coordinating the concert with Professor Marianne Adams.
This year, two department faculty members are contributing new works for this concert, including Associate Professor Sherone Price with a repertory piece, Les Ballet Kou Kou (Celebration Dance), created with his Diye African Dance and Drum Ensemble class. Price's high energy works with live musicians and percussionists, imprint lingering images that speak to our human urge to move joyfully and dance together. Dance Studies Lecturer Sam Stone, in her first year on the faculty, is collaborating with student dancers to create a playful, whimsical dance theatre piece, We're All in it Together, inspired by Terry Gilliam's film "Brazil," exploring the absurdity of conformity and the bugs in the system that derail it.
Dance Studies Professor, Sherone Price
Sam Stone, Photo Credit: Roxanne Gray
Three graduates of Appalachian's Dance Studies major have been invited to contribute to the special anniversary concert. Elijah Grady is an intuitive choreographer that combines the essence of modern dance with the foundational movements of bounce and groove. His piece, Fruits of the Mango Tree, will center around the story of seven entities coming together to form one being. That being will find its ways through the various sounds of jazz and funk.
Elijah Grady, Photo Credit: Melle Houston
Phillip McRorie is a dance artist instructing dancers in modern, ballet, and choreographic processes, and generating new works as an independent choreographer, including Sundials in the Shade. After graduating from App State in 2018 with a BA Dance Studies, he performed with and choreographed for various NC-based companies and showcases. Phillip recently completed his MFA through Jacksonville University and has shifted focus to his role as a dance educator. He will be creating a new work with eight current students.
Phillip McRorie, photo submitted
Jessie Maynard Natausch is a choreographer, dancer, and teaching artist from Charleston, SC. She is currently the director of the Charleston Modern Collective and a dancer in the Charleston Dance Project. Jessie is a passionate dance educator, teaching ages 2-adult at private studios, public schools, and in community offerings. Having earned Bachelor of Arts degrees in Dance Studies and Sustainable Development from Appalachian State in 2011, Jessie is honored to choreograph, Enouement, for the 50th Anniversary of ADE and is working with alumni dancers.
Jessie Natausch, Photo by Brae Howard
Current Dance Studies majors were chosen by auditions to choreograph for their peers: Louise Fullwood, Ashlynn Swanson and Kylie Venticinque.
Fullwood is a junior Dance Studies major/Film Studies minor at Appalachian State University (class of 2026) and explores the dynamics of human relationships as they develop, focusing on the natural body language as relationships deepen. Her work, contention/ undressed/ post pleasure, articulates the progression of becoming comfortable in one’s body as dancers find connections with others.
Ashlynn Swanson, standing holding Sky Chappell, in SADE 2024. Choreography by Emma Rose Farmer, Photo credit: Lynn Willis
Swanson, a Public Health/ Dance Studies double major at Appalachian (class of 2025), has performed in multiple previous departmental concerts. She choreographed for the Climate of Change: First Year Promenade which was canceled due to hurricane Helene. Her piece, Under Her Eye, will focus on the ongoing fight for women’s rights.
Venticinque is a Dance Studies major/ Apparel minor who is exploring the fragmented experience of "Monkey Brain," the unpredictable, relentless drift of thoughts from the perspective of an overthinker. Her piece, The Ether, will showcase the ceaseless hum of our mental landscape. She values the aesthetic process when creating choreography and multidisciplinary works. She choreographed for SADE 2024 and later adapted that work into a dance film. Kylie has performed in the dance film Evolve, directed by Gina Menichino, choreographed by Cat Cogliandro. She attended the Soul Escape Professional Intensive taught by Justin Giles and Rose Yager.
Kylie Venticinque, photo by Sarah Devoti
ADE50 reserved seating tickets for the Spring Appalachian Dance Ensemble are available online through the T&D department website at theatreanddance.appstate.edu, as well by phone or in person at the Schaefer Center for the Arts box office. For parking information and directions to the Valborg Theatre, see Visitor Parking.
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About the Department of Theatre and Dance
One of seven departments housed in the College of Fine and Applied Arts, the Department of Theatre and Dance's mission is to facilitate transformative experiences for students and the public, which cultivate compassionate, creative, and collaborative communities through theatre and dance. The department also offers coursework for integrated learning through the arts to the general university student population. Its dynamic co-curricular production program provides exemplary theatre and dance experiences to departmental students, the university community, and the region. www.theatreanddance.appstate.edu.
About the College of Fine and Applied Arts
Appalachian State University's College of Fine and Applied Arts is a dynamic and innovative group of seven academic departments, bringing together a variety of perspectives, experiences, and real-world education to provide unique opportunities for student success. The college has more than 3,500 undergraduate and graduate majors. Its departments are Applied Design, Art, Communication, Military Science and Leadership, Sustainable Development, Sustainable Technology and the Built Environment, and Theatre and Dance. Learn more at https://cfaa.appstate.edu.
About Appalachian State University
As the premier public undergraduate institution in the Southeast, Appalachian State University prepares students to lead purposeful lives as global citizens who understand and engage their responsibilities in creating a sustainable future for all. The Appalachian Experience promotes a spirit of inclusion that brings people together in inspiring ways to acquire and create knowledge, to grow holistically, to act with passion and determination, and to embrace diversity and difference. Located in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Appalachian is one of 17 campuses in the University of North Carolina System. Appalachian enrolls nearly 21,253 students, has a low student-to-faculty ratio, and offers more than 150 undergraduate and graduate majors.
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