Gonzaga Dance Opens Season in Collaboration with Hannah Thomas' Good Works Dance Theatre
Gonzaga Dance is kicking off the 2026-2027 Dance Season with their annual Season Opener on Friday, Sept. 18, at the Myrtle Woldson Performing Arts Center on the Gonzaga campus. This show will feature guest artist Hannah Thomas and her company, Good Works Dance Theatre.
The featured performance will be Thomas’ original piece “Joy in the City,” a vibrant dance work that celebrates joy as a powerful force in the lives of Black women. Blending contemporary movement with influences from the African diaspora, the work explores play, laughter, rest, and collective celebration as expressions of freedom.
Thomas, currently dance faculty at the University of Oregon, is a native of Atlanta, Georgia, and holds an MFA in dance and choreography, along with a teaching artists certificate, from Arizona State University. She is a member of Embodied Scholars, an exclusive group created for Black hip-hop teachers at the college level. Trained in many styles, including contemporary dance, jazz, ballet, modern and African, her other passions include styling and fashion, dance ministry work for local churches, screen dances, choreographing for musical theatre, and sound engineering.
“Hannah Thomas is a rising star as an exceptional choreographer and dance scholar, both inside academia and beyond,” says Gonzaga Dance Director Cynthia Gutierrez. “She brings energized creativity and an infectious spirit that inspires everyone around her to bring their best to the studio and the stage. Our students will no doubt have a transformative experience during her residency.”
During Thomas’s week-long residency at Gonzaga, she will teach a variety of classes, as well as collaborate with Gonzaga dance students who will perform alongside the Good Works Dance Theatre on the Myrtle Woldson stage.
Hannah Thomas and Good Works Theatre will perform Friday, Sept. 18, at the Myrtle Woldson Performing Arts Center Coughlin Theater, 211 E. DeSmet Avenue in Spokane. Tickets are $10-$15 and available at Gonzaga.edu/DanceTickets or by visiting the Myrtle Woldson Performing Arts Center Box Office, Monday through Friday, noon to 5 p.m., or by calling 509-313-2787.