WT Students Choreograph Works for ‘Falling into Dance’ Performances

Copy by Chip Chandler, 806-651-2124, cchandler@wtamu.edu

CANYON, Texas — West Texas A&M University dancers are putting their fellow students through their paces for an upcoming dance concert.

“Falling into Dance” will feature solo and group works choreographed by three students — Amy Allen, a junior from Iowa Park; Alexis Ayala, a senior from El Paso; and Benjamin Joseph Goesl, a junior from Texarkana. WT Dance students also will perform “Movement Metamorphosis” choreographed by Kay Andersen, an international performer whose career has spanned four decades and six continents.

Performances will be staged at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 18 to 20 and 2:30 p.m. Nov. 21 in the Happy State Bank Studio Theatre in the Sybil B. Harrington Fine Arts Complex. Tickets are $12 for adults, $8 for students and seniors, and free for WT students, faculty and staff with a Buff Gold Card. Call 806-651-2810, email artsboxoffice@wtamu.edu or visit showtix4u.com/event-details/56945.

“Our ‘Falling into Dance’ performances always are a highlight of the year,” said Crystal Bertrand, dance program director. “Our students can put into practice everything they have learned, not only from our faculty, but also the guest choreographers they work with during their time at WT. Being able to choreograph movement is a valuable skill in any dancer’s repertoire and a critical part of the education they receive at WT.”

Goesl said he learned to collaborate with his fellow artists in the process.

“I actually learned a lot more about them — how they dance, how they move,” Goesl said. “They all contributed throughout the rehearsal process. They all had input.”

The student-choreographed dances will reflect love stories, family arguments and, in Ayala’s, body positivity and self-confidence.

“The dancers are pushed outside of their comfort zones through burlesque-style movement and different dance genres,” Ayala said.

“Falling into Dance” will be WT Dance’s first opportunity to perform before a live audience since Fall 2019. Both of the 2020-21 performances were conducted virtually because of Covid-19 precautions.

“I love the feeling of knowing that people will be there in the theater — just the background noise even of people sitting there breathing, listening and reacting,” Allen said. “That’s what I’m looking forward to.”

In addition to the three student choreographers, performers will include Sierra Cross, a junior from Lubbock; Raeann Davis, a senior from Rockwall; Kaleigh De La Cruz, a freshman from Chicago; Grace Drake, a junior from Lubbock; Emily Evans, a junior from Amarillo; Anthony Femath, a junior from El Paso; Amon Fredinand, a freshman from Amarillo; Eddie Gomez, a junior from Amarillo; Kynleigh Hilton, a junior from Lubbock; Hannah Hosnedl, a junior from Downers Grove, Ill.; Eden Lovett, a freshman from Amarillo; Alexandra Mcphillips, a sophomore from Conroe; Matthew Miller, a sophomore from Lubbock; Lana Rice, a sophomore from Amarillo; Abbi Roe, a May 2021 graduate pursuing a second degree, from Roswell, N.M.; Alyssa Seaton, a freshman from Amarillo; Lorelai Stager, a freshman from San Antonio; Zakyya Taylor, a sophomore from Lubbock; and Jamison Uselding, a junior from Amarillo.

A focus on the arts is a critical element of the University’s long-range plan, WT 125: From the Panhandle to the World. That plan is fueled by the historic, $125 million One West comprehensive fundraising campaign.

About West Texas A&M University

WT is located in Canyon, Texas, on a 342-acre residential campus. Established in 1910, the University has been part of The Texas A&M University System since 1990. WT, a Hispanic Serving Institution since 2016, boasts an enrollment of about 10,000 and offers 60 undergraduate degree programs, 40 master’s degrees and two doctoral degrees. The University is also home to the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum, the largest history museum in the state and the home of one of the Southwest’s finest art collections. The Buffaloes are a member of the NCAA Division II Lone Star Conference and offers 14 men’s and women’s athletics programs.

—WTAMU—