Department of Dance presents Boca Tuya’s “Amor”

By Kathie Beckett

Spring production encourages patrons, dancers to dream without boundaries

Kennesaw State University Department of Dance welcomed New York-based company Boca Tuya in their performance of “Amor” Jan. 27-28 at the KSU Dance Theater on the Marietta campus. Led by acclaimed choreographer Omar Román de Jesús, “Amor” features breathtaking movement vocabulary, drama, fantasy, and humor, all derived by events and practices traced back to personal and collective experiences.

Román de Jesús hopes that his choreographic work helps performers, viewers, and leaders dream without boundaries, a perfect mission for dance works that thrive on extremes. He explained, “I am excited to share not only the movement, but also the sound, lighting, sets, and costumes that transform a thought into magic. The dances are surreal, theatrical, poetic, dramatic, variegated roller coasters. I hope audiences will buckle into their seats, feel the rush of speeding downhill, brush back their windswept hair, and ache to ride again.”

Chair of the Department of Dance and Associate Professor Marsha Barsky said that “Amor” is a unique and exciting opportunity for collaboration between Boca Tuya and KSU Dance. “This work highlights our program’s efforts to present national and international work as a means of providing our students and the community with new perspectives on contemporary dance. We are incredibly proud to invite Omar Román de Jesús back to KSU, and even more proud to have an alumnus of our program working with his company.”

KSU Dance alumnus Bailey Jo Harbaugh met Román de Jesús in summer 2021, when he was in residence as one of the first Eleo Pomare/Glen Connor choreographers. The program was made possible by the Eleo Pomare–Glenn Conner Dance Endowment, which is funded by a generous gift from Jay and Debra Yunek.

KSU Dance faculty and Artistic Director Lisa K. Lock said, “During his residence, Omar created a beautiful work for our alumni students. He has a gift to create captivating work that reflects his cultural heritage as well as the pulse of New York City, driven by a unique and inventive movement vocabulary.”

Believing that dance is an art of relationships and transformation, Román de Jesús said, “The residency

For patrons, the choreographer hopes for one takeaway: that audiences have a chance for their minds to wander and wonder. He says, “I do hope each person finds a moment to wander curiously into a dream scape and wonder what else might be possible there. Room for excitement abounds when we let imagination roam free.” • at KSU gave me the resources to ask ‘What if?’ and then say ‘Yes!’ to the dances that wanted to be made. This creative process served as a pathway to build connections. My time here acquainted me with KSU dancers, production team members, and Atlanta audiences, all of whom were previously outside my orbit. These relationships have manifested in my new works both conceptually and literally.”