W&L Repertory Dance Company Presents Winter Concert The award-winning ensemble will be joined by alumni in the March 26-28 performances to celebrate 20 years of the dance program at W&L.

By Emily Innes Stanley
March 23, 2026

The Department of Theater, Dance and Film Studies at Washington and Lee University presents performances by the award-winning W&L Repertory Dance Company at 7:30 p.m. on March 26-27 and at 2 p.m. on March 28 in the Keller Theatre at the Lenfest Center for the Arts. The performances will also include art installation work in Kamen Gallery created by Sara Dotterer ’18 and Ell Emadian ’17.

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

The concert celebrates the 20th anniversary of the dance program at W&L. To honor the milestone, Theater, Dance and Film Studies (TDFS) alumni from the past two decades will return to Lexington as choreographers and dancers, performing alongside the 40-member student dance company, participating in roundtable discussions and teaching master classes.

“The addition of dance alumni to the concert this year demonstrates to the students that their dance education and performance opportunities last long beyond college,” said Jenefer Davies, chair of the TDFS department and director of the W&L Repertory Dance Company. “I’m excited for students to witness how the lessons and skills learned through a dance education is transferable to any career.”

Three works in the program are the result of artistic residencies. Noelani Pantastico, a former principal dancer with the Pacific Northwest Ballet and Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo, spent a week on campus creating “Passage,” which explores the inner structure of a difficult decision. It navigates the tension between the comfort of a familiar identity and the uncertainty of a new one, recognizing the fear of loss that comes with significant change and the possibilities beyond the threshold of a new chapter. Upon retiring from performing, Pantastico served as artistic director of the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet.

An encore performance from the dance company’s fall performance, “The Head is Not the Star of the Body,” is an excerpted work by Cassie Wang, a Boston-based professional choreographer, developed in residency at the Boston Center for the Arts and taught to W&L dancers during Wang’s stay on campus earlier this year. In her choreographic work, Wang is inspired by existential intimacy and strives to make the deeply personal feel universal. Her artistic endeavors embody a relentless pursuit for an understanding of self in relation to surrounding circumstances.

Ashley Shugart ’22 returned to campus to complete a dance work begun in the fall of 2024, titled “Point to Point.” The piece is an experiment in tying her practice as a visual artist with her work as a choreographer. It is a step in answering the question of how visual art can inspire movement.

“Bringing guest artists to campus gives the students the opportunity to experience a professional dance environment, learn innovative works and new teaching methodologies and practice embodied learning,” Davies said.

The anniversary program will also feature pieces choreographed and performed by alumni. Dotterer and Runa King ’21 will perform their duet “Ritual,” which celebrates a quiet return to the body. King also choreographed “Navigating Attractor Landscapes,” which she will perform with Mary Pace Lewis ’21 and Amalia Nafal Bosch ’21, and Bosch will also perform a solo work created by Davies called “This Macaroni and Cheese Crayon Tastes Like Wax.” Screendances (a genre of dance created with the intention of being viewed on a screen or via a projector) created by Dotterer and Nacho Portela ’15 will feature performances from fellow alumni as well.

A highlight of the performances will be the culmination of Davies’ four-year choreographic journey, titled “Wallflowers/Wildflowers.” This new piece explores marginalization and gender inequality through satire and shines a light on the hidden work of being a woman. Alumni, including Kitty Lambrechts ’19, Katie Daly ’21, Kaitlin Coughlin DeLuca ’15, King, Dotterer and Bosch, will join 28 student dancers in the performances.

In addition to the performances, Zaq Lawal ’10 will host an “Afrobeats and Mindfulness” master class at 1 p.m. on March 26, and Portela will host a “Movement Tools” master class at 4:30 p.m. on March 27. A community salsa dance class is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. on March 28, led by Sandra Meythaler, visiting assistant professor of dance. All three dance classes, held at the W&L Dance Studio (109 S. Jefferson Street), are free and open to the public and require no previous dance experience.

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

For a full list of this season’s 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 the 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.