Upcoming Events
The Wolves
By Sarah DeLappe | Directed by Erin Sellers
The Wolves, by Sarah DeLappe, directed by Erin Sellers, is the story that is seldom told: that of the female warrior. A modern, ensemble-driven coming-of-age story, The Wolves focuses a gritty and honest lens on a pack of nine teenage girls preparing to head onto the soccer field for battle. Through their pre-game warm-ups, we see the girls grapple with the big questions of life as they score goals, debate politics and deal with victories and losses on and off the field. The show is rooted in Greek drama and, in a return to traditional theatre, will take place outdoors in an arena-style performance on Mulligan Field.
Seating is first come first served, but there is an abundance of standing room and audience members are welcome to bring their own lawn chairs.
Rated PG-13 for crude language and discussion of mature themes and situations. Content warning for brief discussion of sexual assault and suicide, and portrayals of mental illness, eating disorders, and two uses of the r slur in Scene Two.
April 29-30 and May 1st at 7:30pm
Mulligan Field, Gonzaga University
Suggested Donation $5
Past Events
19th Annual Spring Dance Concert
Artistic Director Suzanne Ostersmith and the dance faculty present the annual Spring Dance Concert featuring a combination of faculty and student choreography and all student performances. The concert showcases a variety of dance styles from ballet to jazz, musical theatre to modern and more.
Friday, April 23rd at 7:30pm - Livestream
Myrtle Woldson Performing Arts Center, Gonzaga University
View our digital program at: https://bit.ly/3xgcMiV
Florence Tour and Musical Theatre Dance Performance
Join us April 10th at 7:30pm as this evening's performance will be comprised of two very different theatrical dance experiences, each just over a half hour long. Gonzaga Dance has been working with professional artist Noelle Price to develop a work titled "Pay the Price" that will be presented in Florence at the Gonzaga Law School's Human Rights Conference themed Black Lives Matter as a Global Movement. The company of eight dancers accompanied by Dr. Kevin Hekmatpanah on cello has been exploring such challenging and important topics as Historic Oppression, Difficult Conversations, and Privilege. The evening will begin, however, with a Musical Theatre Workshop Presentation, featuring song and dance with a graduating senior and junior Dance majors who hope to continue their career in Musical Theatre.
Saturday, April 10th at 7:30PM
Livestreamed from the Magnuson Theatre
Student Choreography Concert
Join us for our annual Student Choreography Concert on Friday, April 9 at 7:30pm via livestream. Each spring, students enrolled in the Student Choreography Course learn the skills and techniques needed to develop their own choreography and then put it into practice! Auditions are held, the company is cast, and students have been rehearsing their pieces for weeks. Time to shine!
Friday, April 9th at 7:30PM
Livestreamed from the Magnuson Theatre
Antigone by Jean Anouilh
Translated by Christopher Nixon | Directed by Josephine Keefe
Join the Gonzaga Theatre & Dance Department for our upcoming production of Sophocles’ Antigone. The finale to a three-part trilogy which explores the fateful events of a royal family’s end, this timeless drama has been historically set as the barometer with which we view the tragedy genre. Jean Anouilh’s Antigone was first performed in Paris in 1944, under Nazi occupation, where he made several significant changes to his source material to create a play that speaks directly to the social and political situation in France at the time, and which continues to speak powerfully to our modern American society.
Anouilh’s ambiguous adaptation proposed the quest for justice was not black and white as the original text read, but rather messy, complicated, and uncertain. Our heroine Antigone, a child of war, journeys through the course of the play with a moral fortitude and impenetrable focus on the quest for justice despite all those around her calling for unity and peace. An audience member of the 21st century need not look far to consider and compare that of Antigone’s world with their own. In what ways have we seen a moral and ethical divide break apart countries, communities, and families for the sake of justice?
This play forces us to reckon with complex moral questions with no easy answers. It pits old against young, male against female, and compromise against certainty. As viewers, we have to ask ourselves how to move forward in a world where no one is entirely right or entirely wrong and there are no simple heroes and villains.
Antigone will be performed on-stage on Friday, March 26th and Saturday, March 27th at 7:30pm followed by a 2pm matinee performance on Sunday, March 28th. These free performances will be livestreamed from the Magnuson Theatre.
Love Your Body Week (Feb 8th - 13th, 2021)
Join the Gonzaga University Dance Program and the Northwest Parkinson’s Foundation in celebrating all of the amazing things our bodies can do during our Annual Love Your Body Week! This event, which runs from February 8th-13th will include body-positive activities across campus.
2/8 Panel Discussion
Join us in a panel discussion via zoom on Monday, February 8th from 12:00-1:00pm presented by Gonzaga University Dance Council. This discussion will feature three distinguished guest speakers who specialize in different topics related to Love Your Body Week, such as mental health, nutrition, dance, and self-care. All are welcome to attend this event and we look forward to hearing from experts in our community!
Monday, February 8th, 2021
12 - 1pm PST
Zoom Event
2/8 Workshop with Noelle Price
Join Noelle Price for an exciting workshop on Monday, February 8th from 6:30-8:00pm. A small number of students will be able to register to participate live in the studio, while Zoom will be available for the rest of the students and the greater Spokane dance community. Noelle is a contemporary creator and founder/director of PRICEarts, a multidisciplinary arts organization. Noelle is working with a small group of students through the spring to create a piece to perform in April in Spokane and June in Florence, Italy for the Human Rights Conference exploring Black Lives Matter as a Global Movement.
Monday, February 8th, 2021
6:30 - 8:30pm PST
Zoom Event
2/9 Gonzaga University Repertory Dance Company Performance
The Gonzaga University Repertory Dance Company will perform their 2020-2021 touring works on Tuesday, February 9th from 7:00-8:00pm. Gonzaga Students will be invited to register to attend the live performance in the Myrtle Woldson Performing Arts Center Recital Hall, while the public is invited to join via Zoom. This year’s GURDC work was developed by Adjunct Professor, CarliAnn Bruner, and is an exploration of our relationship to this land, our ancestors, each other, and the future. The company will be on tour through the spring with Spokane Public Schools and other community members.
Tuesday, February 9th, 2021
7 - 8pm PST
Zoom Event
2/11 Gonzaga Dance Film Festival
The Gonzaga Dance Film Festival is presented by the Gonzaga Theatre & Dance Department’s Dance Program. The objective is to celebrate the national Love Your Body Week campaign by presenting dance on film with the primary focus to explore, Cura Personalis, or care of the whole person. Filmmakers were encouraged to submit films about how the various components of the human body - talents, abilities, physical attributes, personalities, desires, hearts, faith, and minds are all equally worthy of care and attention. Loving your body expands far beyond the physical, but rather, a reciprocal exchange between mind and spirit.
Thursday, February 11th, 2021
General Screening at 6:30pm PST
Showcase & Discussion at 7:30pm PST
Livestreamed from the Myrtle Woldson Performing Arts Center
2/12 Dance as Cura Personalis with Julianne Hough
Join Gonzaga University’s Dance Program and the School of Leadership Studies for an evening of dancing and discussion with Julianne Hough – Actress, Dancer, Singer, Producer, Emmy Award-Winning Choreographer and CEO / Founder of KINRGY, a movement experience inspired by the elements that utilizes dance, breathwork, meditation and strength training to focus the mind, sculpt the body and ignite your life. Centered around the concept of Cura Personalis (a Latin phrase that translates as "care for the entire person"), the discussion will focus on bringing this concept to life through movement, self-love and how to embrace dance in elements of your own life.
Friday, February 12th, 2021
Movement Class at 6:15pm PST
Gonzaga in Florence Touring Company Performance & Julianne Hough at 7pm PST
Livestreamed from the Myrtle Woldson Performing Arts Center
2/13 Dance for Parkinson's Class
Join us Saturday, February 13th from 11:00-12:15 for a Love Your Body Week themed Dance for Parkinson’s Class via Zoom. Open to the public, this class moves through a series of dance inspired movement exercises to challenge the mind and body. Funds raised during Love Your Body Week help support the Dance for Parkinson’s program through Northwest Parkinson’s Foundation.
Saturday, February 13th, 2021
11 - 12:15am PST
Zoom
Dance Presents! (Virtual)
Join the Gonzaga Theatre & Dance Department on Saturday, November 14th, 2020 for our second annual Dance Presents! featuring original choreography by Kyle Davis, Principal Dancer with Pacific Northwest Ballet, and the Gonzaga Ballet Ensemble. Set to Variations on a Theme by Tchaikovsky, Op. 35a by Anton Arensky, Davis’ rich choreography features bold and contemporary movements highlighting the lines of the human body in motion. As Arensky’s score, inspired by Richard Henry Stoddard’s poem Roses and Thorns, merges with expressive movement, viewers will find themselves transported into the flower gardens of their childhood memories.
Prior to the Gonzaga Ballet Ensemble’s performance, Kyle Davis will premiere two original screendances and be joined by faculty member and Costume Designer, Leslie Stamoolis, to discuss their inspiration and the process behind taking a design from paper to stage.
You can watch the free livestream on YouTube.
Saturday, November 14th
7:30 – 8:30pm PST
Livestreamed from the Myrtle Woldson Performing Arts Center
Please visit - https://www.gonzaga.edu/.../theatre-dance/dance/support-us
In January 2020 Gonzaga Dance hosted the Artistic Director of Pacific Northwest Ballet, Peter Boal, as he held regional auditions for PNB School’s Summer Intensive. At that time, he also taught a master class for Gonzaga dance students and began discussions of possible future collaborations with Program Director, Suzanne Ostersmith.
The Ballet Ensemble is composed of 12 dedicated dance students from a variety of majors and minors selected to represent Gonzaga Dance. These students have continued to develop their technique in preparation for this performance under the guidance of dance faculty members Pam Erickson and Sarah Glesk.
High school students interested in learning more about the Gonzaga Dance Program are invited to attend virtual dance classes, meet dance students and faculty, and learn more about our Dance Major + Minor before streaming Dance Presents! Please visit Fall Dance Day to learn more and register.
Fall Family Weekend:
60 x 60 Dance Festival (Virtual)
Back by popular demand! Join the Gonzaga Theatre & Dance Department for our Second Annual 60x60 Dance Performance – a 60min Choreography Festival featuring sixty 60sec. performances choreographed and performed by Gonzaga students, faculty, and alumni. This year's virtual event will be livestreamed from the Myrtle Woldson Performing Arts Center and will include a mixture of live, socially distanced performances and pre-recorded screendances.
Friday, October 9, 2020 @ 6pm
Free
10 Minute Play Festival (Virtual)
Join the Gonzaga Theatre & Dance Department for an evening of original works at our virtual 10 Minute Play Festival. Each hour-long performance will feature a new lineup of 10 minute plays written, directed, and performed by GU Students in our Fall playwriting, directing II, and acting I courses.
Friday, October 9, 2020 @ 7:30pm
Saturday, October 10, 2020 @ 7:30pm
Free
Fall Dance Residency Showcase Performance with Dancing Earth (Virtual)
This showcase will featured the Gonzaga University Repertory Dance Company performing solos exploring the concepts of our identity and relation to the land at the intersection of Native American and contemporary dance and is a culmination of a week-long virtual residency with Dancing Earth Artistic Director, Rulan Tangen.
Livestreamed from the Myrtle Woldson Performing Arts Center
Saturday, September 26, 2020 @ 7:30pm