Featuring five dance numbers along with five guest choreographers, the Dance Repertory Theatre presented a showcase, “Points of Intersection,” at the B. Iden Payne Theatre from April 4-7. 

While exploring the theme of connection, artistic directors Erica “EG” Gionfriddo and Angelica Monteiro brought out the choreographers for their showcase: Jennifer Archibald, Bayleigh Breanne, Joel Valentín-Martínez, Angel Blanco and Claudia Lavista. Monteiro, lecturer and co-artistic director said that she wanted her students to learn how to collaborate and learn how the dance world works beyond the stage.

“(The showcase) is a marvelous beast that needs a lot of organization, collaboration and creativity,” Monteiro said. “We brought those five (choreographers) because of how different they are, and how different they work and how different their methodologies are.”

Wanting a physical and artistic challenge this production season, dance junior Elizabeth Garza said working with Lavista on the piece, “Óxido,” proved fitting. With the piece being a restructured version of a piece Lavista did in Mexico, Garza said she and the other cast members stayed true to the original content while implementing new elements. 

“Being in the show helped me explore my range and bounds and now I know that I don’t have any limit if I really put my mind to it,” Garza said. “Casting and being in the show was really great for myself as a dancer.”

Despite a technological mishap at the Friday showing and a fire alarm going off mid-show during the Saturday concert, Garza said their final performance went without troubles. Despite the mishaps, her ensemble persisted, leaving her feeling content with the overall performance and more connected with her program.

“I feel great (and) proud to be in this show. … We went through some very interesting show runs on Friday and Saturday that helped me learn that some (unexpected) things can happen during the show, but we all just live and learn and grow,” Garza said. “We all as dancers, and even the teachers and creators learn so much from each other.”

Dance freshman Aniya Porter said the nurturing work environment that Blanco curated led to an incredible experience. Their piece “Un Intento” encompassed different music and lighting cues along with a fully improvised dance piece each showing, and Porter said the challenge of originality of the piece allowed her to blossom and grow as a dancer. 

“Countless hours of work, time and dedication has (gone) into producing ‘Points of Intersection.’ There is so much different talent, each piece is different and each process is different,” Porter said. “It makes you come out of your comfort zone, especially working with somebody that you’ve never worked (with) before. The process in itself was challenging but also very rewarding.”