Orchesis 2026

DELAWARE, Ohio - Ohio Wesleyan University's Orchesis Dance Company will present its annual concert, Orchesis 2026, with new pieces by six student choreographers and guest choreographers Amy Schofield and Lucy Dillon.

The show will open at 8 p.m. Nov. 13 on the Main Stage of Chappelear Drama Center, 45 Rowland Ave., Delaware, and continue with performances at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Nov. 14. Tickets are $10 for general admission, $5 for senior citizens, and free for OWU students and employees with a valid university ID. Reserve tickets atowuperformingarts.ludus.com.

Orchesis 2026 is directed by instructor Katherine G. Moore, who has been teaching at OWU since spring 2023. An active professional performer, choreographer, and educator, Moore is excited to share this year's pieces and display the efforts of all the choreographers and performers.

"This year's concert highlights a real depth of emotion and choreographic skill," Moore said. "I'm really impressed by each of the choreographers and their commitment to their vision and growth in their artistic voice."

In addition to student-choreographed pieces, the concert will feature works by guest choreographers Amy Schofield and Lucy Dillion.

Amy Schofield is a U.S.-American flamenco dancer, scholar, educator, and choreographer whose research explores flamenco dance in the diaspora. Schofield presents "La Playa - Alegrías de Cádiz." Alegrías de Cádiz is an energetic 12-beat flamenco rhythm from the southern port city of Cádiz, with lyrics often about love or the beauty of the beach and city. In the work, dancers explore rhythm and shape as they embody the feeling of a warm day on a sunny beach.

Lucy Dillon is a dance artist investigating the utility of movement for claiming embodied agency. Her work investigates precarity, impulse, and gravity in the body. In collaboration with the dancers, Dillon presents "Strike/Slip." Strike/Slip exposes the kinetic tensions, supports, and negotiations of an interdependent system. Through propulsions in space and erosions of movement, the dancers compose a storm of shifting forces.

OWU undergraduate choreographers and their Orchesis 2026 pieces are:

• Seniors El Healey of Westlake, Ohio, and Abigail Kallay of Painesville, Ohio, present "I Remember Forever. You, I." To be linked by the stars and yet be destined to end in pieces; there is nothing more human, nothing more painful. Created by fusing contact improvisation and the distinct styles of the two artists, "I Remember Forever. You, I" captures the tragedy of human love. These are the cards we have been dealt. After all, "all we're looking for is love from someone else."
• Kallay also presents "Leave the Bones," a culmination of her Religion Independent Studies with OWU Professor Susan Gunasti. This performance is built in collaboration with the dancers in the piece to depict the movements at the core of her religious embodiment research.
• Senior Liz Railsback of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, presents "Counting your face." Grief is like a weight, glitter, strings; it is love with nowhere to go. "Counting your face" delves into the journey of loss and of learning to live not despite its pain but with it, while still finding joy and light in the remembered past and the imagined future.
• Senior Allison Reich of Wadsworth, Ohio, presents "You're Never Alone." The piece tells the story of how four individuals can overcome difficult moments in life with the support of those around them. This piece is a reminder that no matter how we feel, we are never truly alone in this world.
• Junior Olivia Peralta of Cincinnati, Ohio, presents "Eight." This piece explores the relationship between science and art as dancers depict and embody interactions among chemical particles on stage. This ensemble piece is partially choreographed and partially dancer-led, reflecting the unpredictability and delicate nature of studying and working with particles at the molecular level.
• Sophomore Joia Samuels of Antigua and Barbuda presents "Henosis." In a world where individualism is celebrated, human connection is lost, and too many people learn to suffer alone. However, in the darkest of times, there is still someone there to help you through it.

Learn more about Ohio Wesleyan's Department of Performing Arts and all upcoming performances atowu.edu/PerformingArts.

Founded in 1842, Ohio Wesleyan University is America's University for Ambitious Self-Discovery. At the private liberal arts university in Delaware, Ohio, students find their purpose and build the skills to pursue it through the OWU Connection, which links classroom learning to research, internships, travel-learning, and service. Ohio Wesleyan offers more than 70 undergraduate majors and competes in 24 NCAA Division III sports. The university is featured in "Colleges That Change Lives" and included on the U.S. News & World Report "Best Colleges" list. Connect with OWU expert sources at owu.edu/experts or learn more at owu.edu/admission.