Washington and Lee Presents ‘W&L Dancers Create…’ The W&L Repertory Dance Company’s performances will run Nov. 13-15.

Office of Communications and Public Affairs
November 4, 2025

Washington and Lee University’s award-winning W&L Repertory Dance Company presents “W&L Dancers Create…” at 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 13-14 and at 2 p.m. on Nov. 15 in the Lenfest Center for the Arts’ Keller Theatre.

Tickets are required and are available online or in person at the Lenfest Center box office.

Presented by the Department of Theater, Dance, and Film Studies and under the direction of Jenefer Davies, department chair and artistic director of the W&L Repertory Dance Company, the hour-long evening concert will feature works choreographed by guest artists and W&L students and explore contemporary modern movement practices and the aesthetics of expression and abstraction.

“Bringing together professional and student dancers creates a beautiful harmony,” Davies said. “Students learn project management and practice critical and creative problem-solving, and as they collaborate, they shape the creative landscape and bring attention to their emerging artistic processes.”

“Waypoint” is choreographed by Megan Gargano, who completed a residency with the W&L Dance Company. A “meditation on transition, memory and internal landscapes,” the piece explores the quiet thresholds we cross in search of direction and belonging. Gargano is the founder of The Movement Project, a professional dance company committed to fostering the next generation of Ohio artists through the development of sustainable and equitable practices for dance professionals.

Directed and choreographed by Cassie Wang, “The Head is Not the Star of the Body” is a choreographic study on longing. Wang and her collaborators ground themselves in the questions: How does longing reveal identity? How do we sit with someone else’s longing? How do we measure the distance between subjects of longing? In process and in performance, this piece aims to cultivate mutual understanding of self and other. Wang, a Boston-based professional choreographer, developed this work in residency at the Boston Center for the Arts and taught excerpts of the piece to W&L dancers as part of her stay on campus.

Rounding out the program are pieces choreographed by W&L students. Elise McPherson ’26 created “Wayfinding,” which juxtaposes power and gentleness to highlight the paradox of water, where soft dissolves the hard, as exemplified in the Chinese text, the Tao Te Ching. “Ventilated,” By Ben Blevins ’27, is a contemporary work exploring perseverance and its relationship to human nature and existentialism. Bridget Plank ’28 choreographed “When the Clock Strikes,” which explores how our perception of time shapes emotion and thought. Low-flying vertical dance is showcased in “Still I Go,” a piece about courage by Skyler Hollins ’27. “Beyond the Wall,” by Evan Clark ’26, confronts the invisible divisions that limit human expression and connection with striking physical walls that move and flex with the dance.

The Fall Term lighting design class, taught by Professor of Theater Shawn Paul Evans, designed the lighting for the concert. Cesar De Los Santos-Ortiz ’28, Tenra Adams ’28, Joseph Elaal ’27, Lauren Zoota ’28, Camlyn Belle ’28, Maddie Montez ’27, Nick Lagges ’26, Emma Marvelli ’27, Micah Tongen ’26 and Coco Proctor ’28 collaborated with the choreographers to use lighting to help communicate the thematic material of the choreography and the aesthetics of the concert.

Order your tickets online today or call the Lenfest Center box office at 540-458-8000 for ticket information. Box office hours are 9 a.m.-4 p.m., Monday through Friday. The cost is $18 for adults, $16 for seniors, $14 for W&L faculty and staff and $8 for W&L students.

For a full list of performances, visit the Lenfest Center’s website.

The Lenfest Center for the Arts, home of the Department of Theater, Dance, and Film Studies, the Department of Music and Department of Art and Art History is a multi-use facility designed and equipped to accommodate a broad spectrum of the performing arts, including theater, musical theater, opera and operetta, choral and band music, dance and performance art in one energizing complex.