"Celebrating the creative expression of dance."
by Keith Martin
BOONE, N.C. – Appalachian State University's Department of Theatre and Dance is premiering eight original dance works during the Spring Appalachian Dance Ensemble (SADE) concert at 7 p.m. from Wednesday through Saturday, March 25 to 28 and at 2 p.m. on Sunday, March 29 in the Valborg Theatre on the university's Boone campus. Ticket prices are $17 for adults, $15 for faculty and staff, and $10 for students and are now available online through the T&D website, as well by phone, in person or online at the Schaefer Center for the Arts box office.
Thomas Dixon (Communication/ Dance Studies 2026) in Sherone Price's "Les Ballet Kou Kou" (Celebration Dance) from SADE '25; photo by Lynn Willis
The Appalachian Dance Ensemble, now more than five decades old, is a creative laboratory that takes place each semester for faculty and students in the Department of Theatre and Dance. Faculty conceptualize the dances, and students audition to choreograph for their peers, who are also selected to perform via a competitive audition process. Dances range from abstract, to expressionistic, to rhythmic works of sheer physical energy. The result is a concert for all ages that celebrates the creative expression of dance.
The 2026 SADE concert includes faculty pieces choreographed by Emily Daughtridge, Taryn Griggs, Sherone Price, and Chris Yon that explore a fresh experience with Flamenco, a lifelong study of African Dance and Modern forms, and experiments in collaboration. The ensemble also includes four works by student choreographers Katie Carter, Elsie Currie, Allison Huminsky, and Savannah Wyatt. The students' works explore themes of time, identity, longing, and platonic female relationships.
"Water Under the Bridge...Downstream," choreography by Emily Daughtridge, SADE 2024 pictured: Bailey Anne Brodd & Lydia Jacobson; photo by Bob Brodd
There will be a post-show discussion following the Friday, March 27 performance.
The Saturday evening performance will feature a one-time structured improvisation by Dance Studies Professor Marianne Adams entitled "Bicycling and Basketball." Performers will include retired and current faculty members, alumni and students. Initial inspiration will draw on the difficult task of learning to ride a bicycle. By nature, improvisational dance offers a glimpse of 'dance in process' as an emerging experience for the performers, the production team and for the audience members.
The lighting design team for SADE '26 includes junior theatre design/technology majors Jack Houlihan and Quinn Michaud; they work with Associate Professor John Marty to create original lighting designs for each piece. The costume designer for the production is Assistant Professor Saloni Mahajan.
Dance Studies faculty member Chris Yon is coordinating the SADE concert, and said, "This production is dedicated to our colleague, mentor, teacher, and friend Marianne Adams, who is retiring at the end of this semester.
Marianne Adams
Faculty choreographer Emily Daughtridge will present choreography inspired by recent studies in Spain of flamenco dance and culture. This new work serves as an opportunity for further learning and sharing of this complex form with student dancers who are exploring it for the first time. The choreography explores selected elements and inspired impressions of flamenco dance, accompanied live by guitarist Savash Altuntash. Daughtridge said about her work that, "Sharing flamenco with this cast of willing and committed student dancers has been such a joy!"
"Limerence," choreography by Emily Daughtridge, FADE 2024, pictured: Genna Newman(foreground), (L-R) Allison Huminsky, Lauren Martin, Sophia Kahn; photo by Lynn Willis
Dance faculty members Chris Yon and Taryn Griggs are choreographing a new dance together. Built on their 23-year collaborative choreographic practice, Griggs and Yon are experimenting with cultivating independent worlds within two groups of five dancers and seeing what happens when they are placed next to, pointed at, and occasionally infiltrate each other. They wonder if the alchemy between these two entities will create a third thing beyond their respective imaginations. "The studio has been a sandbox for exploration and play," Yon and Griggs said about the work, "and the students have navigated this process filled with uncertainty and complexity and met it with intrepidness, fearlessness, joy and imagination."
Louise Fullwood (Dance Studies/Film 2026) and Katie Carter (Dance Studies/Photography 2026) in Taryn Griggs' "bunnies" from FADE '25; photo by Lynn Willis
In faculty member Sherone Price's new dance, the dancers are discovering meaning from his choreography that Price is trying to let flow abstractly out of his body and mind, using Modern and African movements that arise from Price's personal dance history. Price explained his creative process as follows: "I started by taking a single combination from auditions to create a dance that travels throughout space using small to larger groups working together. Pushing the dancers in finding ways to support and care for each other as they jump, roll, turn and fall throughout the dance. It's rewarding and surprising to see my ideas in conversation with the dancers."
Select Appalachian students develop their dances in a choreography class taught this semester by Yon, who said, "I am envious of how quickly the students put their choreography together this time around. The dances seem to pour out of each of them."
"Ensemble" in Elijah Grady's "Fruit of the Mango Tree" from SADE '25; photo by Lynn Willis
“Hiraeth,” created by Allison Huminsky (a Senior Accounting major and Dance Studies minor from Goldsboro, NC), explores a deep sentimental longing for the lost places of your past, which you cannot return to and maybe never were. This piece observes the connection between four individuals and how environments change during uncertainty.
“19/12,” created by Savannah Wyatt (Junior Dance Studies Major/Photography Minor from Richmond, VA), explores the spiraling nature of self-identity and the passage of time, built from the personal experiences of herself and her dancers. Wyatt said that “’1919/12’ is contemplative and reflective, portraying the difficult process of growth and the idea that growth is not linear; some days you feel just as close to your past self as your current one.”
“relentique | veridream” is being created by Katie Carter (Senior Dance Studies Major/Somatic Sustainability & Photography Minor from Bakersville, NC). “It explores the quiet ache of feeling invisible even among others, whilst also longing for the more authentic self that one sees only in dreams. This work for six dancers follows the tension between hiding and being seen, inviting audiences into the mind space where vulnerability & doubt live,” said Carter.
“Held,” choreographed by Elsie Currie (a Dance Studies Major with Minors in Anthropology and Somatic Sustainability from Waxhaw, NC) in collaboration with her dancers set to music composed by Music Theory and Composition major, Maggie Martin. “This work explores the intimacy and beauty of platonic female relationships,” said Currie, “as well as the ways that we hold one another when things get to be too much to carry alone. This piece features six dancers who, together, share a glimpse of what it feels like to be held.”
"Ensemble in The Ether" by Kylie Venticinque (Dance Studies/Apparel Design 2025); photo by Lynn Willis
The Valborg Theatre is located on campus at the north side of Chapell Wilson Hall on Howard Street in Boone. The theatre entrance faces the back of the Turchin Center for the Visual Arts on King Street. Parking is available after 5 p.m. on campus in faculty/staff lots and after 5:30 p.m. in the College Street parking deck near Belk Library and Information Commons.
Directions and parking information may be found here. A full listing of the current and upcoming Department of Theatre and Dance seasons is available at theatreanddance.appstate.edu.
Poster artwork design by Brad Parquette. Photographers for each image are as listed.
Media Contact:
P.J. Wirchansky
828-262-7249
wirchanskypj@appstate.edu
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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. 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 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 21,795 students, has a low student-to-faculty ratio, and offers more than 150 undergraduate and graduate majors.
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