ODU DANCE

👩‍🎓👨‍🎓Congratulations to our graduates! We are so proud of you. We can't wait to see what is in store for you in your new adventures ahead. We wish you well.

🦁💙Go Monarchs!
Haylee Carlstrom
Stella Flynn
Miles King
Caro Seeman
Yanique Williams-Meade
Myah Yancey

FALL 2026 ALERT!🔔
Are you still looking for classes to round out your fall schedule? Check out some new and noteworthy for Fall 2026!
✦ New course + flexible technique option
DANC 341: Pilates Equipment Lab 1 (2 credits)
MW 10:30–11:45am
➡️Open to all ODU students!
DANC 313: Modern Dance Technique 3 - *new 8-week format*
We’re piloting a flexible structure by offering two 1-credit sections:
Section 1: Aug 24 – Oct 16 (Megan Thompson)
Section 2: Oct 19 – Dec 11 (Amelia Martinez)
Both meet MW 1:00–2:45pm in Diehn 1202

Don’t delay, sign up today! Register with link in our bio.

SUMMER COURSES ALERT!
Are you looking for great way to stay on track (or get ahead) with flexibility over the summer? We got you covered! Check out these summer offerings.

Summer 2026
-All courses asynchronous, online

First 7-week session (May 18 – July 2):
DANC 185A: Dance and Its Audience (3 credits) – Megan Thompson
DANC 393: Functional Anatomy for Movement Practices (3 credits) – Megan Thompson
Second 7-week session (July 6-August 21):
DANC 185A: Dance and Its Audience (3 credits) – James Morrow
DANC 320: Jazz in Context (1 credit) – Kate Mattingly
✅ REGISTER TODAY!

The Knowledge and Creativity Expo is here! (April 22). We send our best wishes to our students. You got this. We couldn’t be prouder. Your biggest fans (a.k.a. us) are cheering you on!

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With today’s spotlight, we wrap up our Student Expo Series with Makayla Jones.

Makayla’s project examines how Black female dance artists have changed the ways we think about representation, opportunity, and artistic agency for Black women. The presentation includes both her original choreography, titled “No Permission Needed,” and her study of how performances function as both scholarship and embodied storytelling.

Makayla says, “I investigate how movement communicates cultural resilience through the specific design of embodiment, musicality, and ensemble storytelling. My project challenges traditional perceptions of beauty, hierarchy, and authorship by positioning choreography as both academic research and artistic expression. Ultimately, “No Permission Needed” highlights how contemporary dancers build upon the artistic and cultural pathways created by Black female pioneers while claiming space unapologetically.”

Click on the link in our bio to find out more about Makayla’s project. Her project will be featured at the Knowledge and Creativity Expo from 1pm to 2pm in the Big Blue Room of Chartway Arena.

The Knowledge and Creativity Expo is tomorrow (April 22)!

Today we spotlight Jahla M. Smith in our Student Expo Series.

Jahla’s presentation includes the showing of original her choreography work titled “Public View,” plus a discussion of the research that accompanies this creation: Is a choreographic work ever truly finished?

Jahla says, “I argue that choreography is never completed, but rather exists as a process shaped by revision, performance, and reflection. By comparing previous and current rehearsals of Public View, I show how movements shift over time in response to intention, interpretation, and observation. I also refer to journals that I keep during the creative process to show questions and ideas that motivated the piece’s evolution.”


Click on the link in our bio to find out more about Jahla’s project. Her project will be featured at the Knowledge and Creativity Expo from1pm to 2pm in the Big Blue Room of Chartway Arena.

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AND THERE’S MORE…
We are excited to share that Jahla is featured in “Student Limbers Up for Long Career in Dance.” The article takes a deeper dive in Jahla’s college journey, career preparation and future aspirations.

“Her commitment to both performance and dance education isn’t unusual in our program, but what stands out is how fully she invests in both areas,” Megan Thompson, dance program director at the University said. “She has a strong attention to detail and has stepped into leadership roles with increasing confidence, particularly as a rehearsal director and teaching assistant.”

Read the full article with link in our bio or visit bit.ly/JahlaSmithODUArticle.

The Knowledge and Creativity Expo is happening this week!

Today we feature Stella Flynn in our Student Spotlight Series for the Expo.

Stella’s presentation, The Importance of Impermanence, explores the ephemerality of the performing arts and, more specifically, why this is vital to artists’ and audiences’ engagement with live performance.

Stella says, “The fleeting nature of performing arts, and dance especially, reminds us of the impermanence of any life. During a time when we can easily immortalize our every thought and action, it is beautiful to exist for the sole purpose of changing and growing and feeling human. Ultimately, I will show that the temporary nature of dancing affords us opportunities to improvise and play within the borders of a performance, and this play reflects our capacity to imagine and innovate.”

Click on the link in our bio to find out more about Stella’s project. Her project will be featured at the Knowledge and Creativity Expo on April 22 from 1pm to 2pm in the Big Blue Room of Chartway Arena.

UDT FACULTY SPOTLIGHT
We are delighted to spotlight the multi-talented Associate Professor James Morrow. For this years’s Spring Concert he not only choreographed “Not Yours” but also directed and edited the film Symbio.

Check out more about “Not Yours” and “Symbio.”

💃🕺Dance Piece -
Not Yours
Choreographer: James Morrow
Costumes: James Morrow
Dancers: Jay Agosta, Maya Belk, Kaci Henderson, Alexa Sneed,
London Steele

Not Yours is a confrontation with the gaze the work moves through confidence, distortion, resistance, and release. This dance refuses the idea that the body exists to be approved, polished, or explained. Instead, it asks what happens when a body stops negotiating with the eyes around it.

🎬 🎥 Dance Film -
Symbio
Director/ Editor: James Morrow
Choreographer: Brande Morrow
Performer: Brande Morrow

“Symbio” is a visceral dance film exploring love, freedom, and transcendence through an aerial duet between a lone woman and an otherworldly presence. Suspended between earth and sky, their symbiotic relationship reflects the tension between connection and release, mirroring neurodivergent inner worlds and the fragile distance of postpartum experience. Rooted in personal narrative, the work transforms intimacy and struggle into a cosmic meditation on liberation, where love dissolves beyond gravity into the infinite.



“Not Yours” Photo credit:
Symbio photos: still shots from the film courtesy of Director Morrow

Students were thrilled to bring guest artist Christal Brown’s choreography to life on our stage for our Spring Concert. Thank you Christal for your beautiful artistry and inspiring encouragement.

🎟️ Hurry to purchase your tickets with link in bio to see this amazing piece.


The Road, the Car, the Wound and the Healing

Choreographer: Christal Brown
Music: Sound Design by Christal Brown
Costumes: Amanda Jackson
Dancers:
Cast 1: Jay Agosta, Lindsey Carr, Stella Flynn, Mariam Jafari-Nassali, Tyra Leak, Clara Minkewicz, Heaven Stovall (4/18 at 7:30pm)
Cast 2: Kayla Back-Hansen, Kaci Henderson, Makayla Jones,
Aniyah Pleasant, Caro Seeman, Alexa Sneed (4/15 at 7:30pm and 4/18 at 2:00pm)
Cast 3: Joshua Belton, Jamyis Herbert, Aaliyah Palmer, Mary Smithbey, Jahla Smith (4/16 and 4/17 at 7:30pm)

The Story Behind the Piece:
“The Road, the Car, the Wound and the Healing” is the collision of ideas, ideals, and experiences. It is my hope that this experiment in ephemerality and chance gives audiences the opportunity to explore their own presence and possibility.

Dancers photo credit:

We are pleased to highlight our next Spring Concert student choreographer Jahla Smith!

Jahla’s piece “Public View,” explores the unspoken patterns that shape group behavior and the quiet pull of conformity. Though each person begins as an individual, movement gradually syncs into a collective rhythm. Three dancers attempt to break away, challenging the safety of the crowd. Ultimately, one remains apart, choosing individuality while being watched. The piece examines group dynamics, personal choice, and how the presence of public observation affects whether we change, conform, or stand alone.

Dancers: Kayla Bach-Hansen, Lailah Crayton, Stella Flynn,
Kaci Henderson, Emma Jones, Makayla Jones, Angelina Julian, Tyra Leak, Antonio Miller, Clara Minkewicz, Aniyah Pleasant
Costumes: Jahla Smith in collaboration with the dancers

🎟️ Last chance to see Jahla’s “Public View” is tonight. Buy your tickets with link in bio.

THERE’S MORE TO THE STORY...
Jahla says, “I’ve always been a dancer that doesn’t like just one thing, when it comes to choreographing. I like fusion.” Take a closer look at into Jahla’s determination to build her own life in the arts in the featured article “Student Limbers Up for Long Career in Dance.” Read story with link in our bio or visit bit.ly/JahlaSmithODUArticle.

Dancers photo credit: