Mark your calendars because the annual Fall Dance Festival, presented by the University of Nevada, Reno’s Department of Theatre and Dance, is back in the Redfield Proscenium Theatre from Nov. 19 - 21.

Performed by multi-talented College of Liberal Arts students, this showcase provides audiences with a variety of choreographed works, two of which will go on to be presented at the regional American College Dance Association festival this Spring in Los Angeles. 

Hand selected by the dance faculty from works-in-progress initially created last semester, all of the Fall Dance Festival’s choreographers have been chosen to fully develop their dances to be performed on the Redfield Proscenium Theatre stage. This year's show includes eight student choreographers, Ava Dyer, Brynna Wayland, Julia Dennis, Juliette Hughes, Ora Harris, Rose Barber, Ryan Johnson and Ryann Trimble, along with faculty choreographer, Associate Teaching Professor and festival coordinator, Eve Allen Garza.

Brynna Wayland is a senior majoring in musical theatre, dance and kinesiology. Her work, “The City is Ours,” stands apart because she is utilizing musical theatre dance vocabulary to craft her choreography. In this dance, six dancers embody characters who each discover and experience love in individual, unique ways.

Wayland describes her dance as “a love story designed to charm the audience and show them that love comes in different forms and when you least expect it.”

However, not all of the dances are as character driven as Wayland’s. Ryann Trimble is one of the choreographers who has created a contemporary and abstract work.

Trimble, a junior majoring in dance and journalism, is choreographing a dance titled “Forgotten Pictures.” Through the usage of its props, gestural phrases and staging, Trimble's choreography pulls inspiration from surrealism in cinema. Trimble’s goal in choreographing this work is “to create a work that can unsettle, invoke curiosity and provide a space for the abstract to be abstracted.”

Rose Barber, a junior majoring in dance and political science with an emphasis in American politics and policy, is creating a dance that incorporates both her academic pursuits. Her dance, “Where do we stand when we fall?” is a contemporary work that merges her two areas of study, dance and politics.

According to Barber, her piece “examines the physical and metaphorical lines that are present in our modern-day American political landscape and how oppression and the incitement of division is physically embodied on the partisan spectacle of the American general public.”

Faculty choreographer and festival coordinator Eve Allen Garza is re-staging her 2019 work “Fuego” for the Fall Dance Festival. It is an energetic and dynamic work, inspired by the concept of fire, mixed with inspiration taken from the musicality of the acoustic guitars within the music. 

“'Fuego' is an exciting work full of momentum, musicality and highlights how classical ballet technique can be used in a contemporary way,” says Garza.

“Fuego” and Juliette Hughes’ dance, “Unidentified,” will go on to be presented at the American College Dance Association conference in Los Angeles in February of 2027. “Every year ACDA hosts regional festivals across the country where conference members participate in masterclasses taught by guest artists and faculty from many different institutions. Dance works are performed and critiqued blindly by a panel of three experts who offer constructive feedback,” says Garza.

Come and witness these original works, conceived and fully actualized by the talented cohort of the Fall Dance Festival choreographers. 

“It is a beautiful opportunity to see the culmination of everyone’s hard work and love for the arts,” says Trimble. “It will be incredibly rewarding not only for the dancers, but for the audience to be included in these ephemeral performances.”

The Fall Dance Festival performances run from Nov. 19 through 21, with a total of four performances. There are three evening performances at 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 19, 20 and 21 and a daytime matinee performance at 1:30 p.m. on Nov. 21. A post performance artistic talk back will follow the Friday performance on Nov. 20. Recommended for ages 14+.

Reserved seating is available for The Fall Dance Festival. Ticket prices are $25 for adults, $20 for University of Nevada, Reno faculty and staff, $20 for non-University of Nevada, Reno students and $5 for University of Nevada, Reno students.  Visit the Department of Theatre and Dance production website for tickets.