The Fredonia Dance Ensemble will be working hard to make an impact on audiences with its annual concert event in March.
The ensemble concerts take place on Thursday, March 26; Friday, March 27 and Saturday, March 28 at 7:30 p.m. in the Robert W. Marvel Theatre at SUNY Fredonia.
Presented as part of the Walter Gloor Mainstage Series, tickets are available online 24/7. Tickets may also be purchased on Monday, Wednesday or Friday by phone at (716) 673-3501 or in person at the Fredonia Ticket Office in the Williams Center from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and at the door.
More than 75 students are involved in this season’s production, including approximately 50 dancers who will perform works choreographed by faculty, alumni and a guest artist.
Director Sam Kenney, a professor of Dance, said the 90-minute concert will feature styles ranging from modern contemporary to Irish fusion to musical theatre.
“As with every dance concert, I hope our audiences will leave having been impacted by at least one piece,” Professor Kenney said.
While each piece in the concert may elicit a different emotion, there is a common goal.
“To me, a dance is successful when the audience remembers it,” Kenney said. “That means it made them feel something.”
This season’s guest artist is Hank Bamberger of Bamberger Dance Projects. A native of Richmond, VA, Mr. Bamberger began making dances at 8 years of age. At 15, he started technical training in Dance and made his way to New York City, where he received his B.F.A. with a concentration in Modern Dance from Marymount Manhattan College.
He danced with the Paul Taylor II Dance Company and formed his own his own experimental dance company, Bamberger Dance Projects, in 2018. With Bamberger Dance Projects he has created dances for the United Nations Peace Boat, Design Pavilion, New York City’s ocean sustainability presentation/performance with Azimut Yachts, and an immersive performance in sustainable fashion with Global Fashion Exchange.
In addition to works by Bamberger and Kenney, the concert features choreography by alumni Charles Fuller, Briana Blair Kelly and Anna Krzemien, and faculty members Natasha McCandless and Parisha Rajbhandari.
Auditions for the concert were open to all Fredonia students again this year and the Dance program continues to grow.
“The number of Dance majors has tripled in the past two years,” Kenney noted.
The Fredonia Dance Ensemble is presented as part of the 2025-26 Lake Shore Bank Season and is made possible in part a grant from the Carnahan Jackson Humanities Fund and the generosity of James and Marcia Merrins, all through the Fredonia College Foundation.
