Senior Showcase Fall 2025

FALL

SENIOR SHOWCASE FEATURED SENIOR CHOREOGRAPHERS Katie Noll Sophia Harrison Mallory Price Stephanie Wirth And special guest Jayhawk Tap Company

NOVEMBER 22 & 23, 2025 Theatre & Dance

KU Theatre & Dance Land Acknowledgment Translation from Menominee to English The KU Department of Theatre & Dance acknowledges that our performances take place on the ancestral homelands of several Tribal Nations, including the Kansa/ Kaw, the Osage. Specifically, the University of Kansas occupies land forcefully ceded in an 1825 treaty with the Kansa/Kaw Nation and a later treaty removing the Delaware/Lenape people.

This traditional territory was not a single property with border lines but rather maintained by Tribal peoples as traditional stewards, and we recognize an enduring relationship exists tying Tribal peoples to the land.

Elements of the land remain embedded into their Tribal identities, culture, and language. The Department emphatically recognizes and supports the sovereignty of the four federally recognized Tribal Nations present in Kansas today: the Potawatomi, Kickapoo, Sac and Fox, and Iowa.

As we gather in this community space, we ask that you all take a moment to give thanks for this day as we celebrate and honor the contribution of this production by the KU Department of Theatre & Dance. We ask that you feel the good energy, passion, and commitment of the students and help us to honor their gifts they will share today. We wish for you to be rejuvenated and take this good energy and find a way to share a little with your community and others. The world needs laughter, music, dance, and the arts–the language of universal love. The land is home to us all. In the name of humanity, we ask for a final moment of reflection as we recognize and honor the past, and most importantly the arts and culture of the original people of this land.

The Department looks forward to future partnerships and collaborations that honor this land acknowledgment.

Enjoy the production and safe travels to all.

Fall Senior Dance Showcase Sherbon Blackbox Theatre, Robinson Center

Livestreamed Nov. 22, 7 p.m.

Nov. 23, 2 p.m.

It is free to view the livestream at dance.ku.edu.

Senior Showcase is performed with a limited, in-person audience.

Student choreographers present this work in conjunction with KU’s DANC 550: Senior Project course.

Invest in our Shows

Give to the Centennial Production Fund

Producing dance both in-person and online with no ticket fees to boot allows us share our art with a larger and more far-flung audience than ever before. While a lot has changed in the 100 years since our Department’s founding, our students have never stopped needing the applause and support of their community as they express themselves through the artform. In lieu of payment of tickets, supporters are encouraged to contribute to the Centennial Production Fund, through KU Endowment, to strengthen student opportunities in our season–both in the form of learning from hands-on experiences and by working alongside guest artists.

kuendowment.org/centennialfund

Showcase Production Credits Faculty Producers. Maya Tillman-Rayton, Shannon Stewart Faculty Design Mentor. Ann Sitzman Faculty Stage Management Mentor. Jenna Link Stage Manager. Camryn Purtle Assistant Stage Manager. Grace Couldry Lighting Designer. Sean Ingram Sound Op. Anthony Jennings Crew. Chase Ellis, Celine Mendoza Streaming Technicians. Sam Angell, Lisa Coble-Krings Graphic Design. Chris Millspaugh Photographer. Luke Jordan

Department of Theatre & Dance Senior Capstone Project

The Picture You Wanted choreographer. Stephanie Wirth music.

Original score created for “The Picture You Wanted”

musicians.

Deven Six, Guitar Maddison Easley, Vocals Caden Bradshaw, Piano Amil McDaniel, Bass

poetry.

Kaitlyn Hartz

dancers.

Rylee Brown, Rhubarb Brubacher, Sophia Harrison, Allie Lefler, Esther McBride, Mallory Price, Madi Seelye, Sloane Smith, Molly Stover-Brown, Elizabeth Wellman, Claire Yarborough

The Picture You Wanted describes the emotional weight of the labels that society places on us and how they can shape the ways in which we see ourselves. When those labels begin to define us, we may start to lose sight of who we truly are.

This piece follows the journey of breaking free from those expectations and instead searching for trust, understanding, and acceptance in society based on our most authentic selves.

It reflects the struggle of being misunderstood and the internal strength it takes to reclaim one’s sense of personal identity.

The Picture You Wanted asks how can we work together to find ourselves again in a world that so often tries to decide for us?

Department of Theatre & Dance Senior Capstone Project

Confluence choreographer.

Sophia Harrison

music.

Symphony No. 1 in G minor, Op. 13, TH 24 “Winter Daydreams”: II. Land of Desolation, Land of Mists. Adagio cantabile ma non tanto

musician.

Composed by Tchaikovsky, Performed by the Gonzaga Symphony Orchestra

dancers.

Elizabeth Wellman, Joslyn Vetock, Katie Noll, Madi Seelye, Mallory Price, Sloane Smith, Stephanie Wirth, Sydney Thomann

Confluence explores the merging of two rivers as a metaphor for the duality within myself as a dancer. From two groups of dancers beginning with harmonious, structured movement, to the introduction of a new fluid movement quality, the two groups of dancers navigate the push and pull between familiarity and change.

Their inability to fully connect creates a powerful representation of internal conflict, mirroring my own journey to reconcile past foundations with new directions.

Department of Theatre & Dance Guest Artist

Expedition

Jayhawk Tap Co.

choreographer.

Maren Benz, Alexandria Lefler, Mallory Price, Paul Ruf

music.

Arctic Expedition

musicians.

Martin Baekkevold

dancers.

Maren Benz, Julia Cox, Dinah Criswell, Sofia Dunkelberger, Rania Fuleihan, Aidan Hill, Jadyn Kaufman, Alexandria Lefler, Mallory Price, Megan Ruf, Paul Ruf

Department of Theatre & Dance Senior Capstone Project

Epiphany choreographer.

Mallory Price

music.

Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor, Op. 18, Adagio Sostenuto

composer.

Sergei Rachmaninoff

dancers.

Maren Benz, Sophia Harrison, Madi Seelye, Sloane Smith, Maggie Stephan, Elizabeth Wellman, Stephanie Wirth

“How much can you change and get away with it, before you turn into someone else, before it’s some kind of murder?”

– Richard Siken I’ve always been a perfectionist, and for most of my life I was especially obsessed with becoming a perfect version of myself.

I’ve cycled through phases of trying to alter, abandon, and reinvent fragments of my personality. But consequentially, I never felt truly like myself. Until recently, when I realized that I am who I always have been. And I no longer want to be anything else.

Epiphany follows the evolution of my individuality and ultimately the process of my self-realization.

Department of Theatre & Dance Senior Capstone Project

Se Ralentir choreographer.

Katie Noll

music.

New Year’s Flowers, Just Shoot Me Now, and Disappoint You

musician.

Tracey Nelson

dancers.

Michael Bell, Sophia Harrison, Kaelie Link, Katie Noll, Madi Seelye, Joslyn Vetock

Se Ralentir explores the tension between the urgency of daily life and the conscious act of slowing down. Set to the textured compositions of Tracey Nelson, the choreography juxtaposes rapid, chaotic movement with fluid, expansive phrases, evolving from frenetic energy toward measured release. Through improvisation and conceptual frameworks, the piece emphasizes ensemble interplay, counterpoint, and the subtle negotiation between individual impulse and collective rhythm. By drawing attention to breath, pacing, and the dynamics of intentional deceleration, Se Ralentir invites audiences to reconsider their relationship with time, movement, and the spaces between action, fostering reflection within the embodied experience of dance.

Presenting Senior Capstone Choreographers Stephanie Wirth

Stephanie is from Orwigsburg, Pennsylvania where she discovered her love for dance at the age of three. After moving to Topeka, Kansas in 2019, she trained at the Kansas Ballet Academy until college. Alongside teaching ballet at the Lawrence Arts Center, she is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance, a Business minor, and the Jack Lockton Certificate in Insurance & Risk Management. Stephanie has performed with the University Dance Company since her freshman year and now serves as its vice president. She has worked with multiple guest artists, starred in the short film I’m Afraid It’ll Still Get Worse (2024), choreographed for the 2023 student showcase, and produced the 2025 Student Choreographer Showcase.

Sophia Harrison

Raised in Topeka, Kansas, Sophia began dancing at age six with Topeka Ballet and continued her training with Kansas Ballet Academy until graduating from Washburn Rural High School in May 2022. At the University of Kansas, she has been an active member of the University Dance Company and has held several executive positions, including social chair, vice president, and now president of the organization. She will graduate this May with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance and a minor in Business. Currently, Sophia works as a dance instructor and choreographer at Kansas Ballet Academy and is excited to continue sharing her passion with the next generation of dancers.

Featured Guest Jayhawk Tap Co.

Jayhawk Tap Co. is a recognized KU student club that accepts members by audition. JTC is a group of dedicated dancers from various backgrounds from rhythm to Broadway to lyrical styles. Student-run and choreographed, its energetic and upbeat pieces serve to celebrate the art of tap. JTC was cofounded in 2021. More information on Engage KU.

Presenting Senior Capstone Choreographers Mallory Price

Mallory began her dance journey at three years old in her hometown of Leavenworth, Kansas. She fell in love with performing and creating while training at Deena Shroyer School of Dance, where she studied until graduating from Leavenworth High School in 2022. Mallory has continued her involvement at her hometown studio, now First City Dance Center, as an instructor and choreographer.

At KU, she has performed with Jayhawk Tap Co., now serving as an executive member and choreographer, University Dance Company, and University Theatre. She performed in Antigone with a traveling theatre troupe as part of the KU Theatre & Dance Study Abroad in Greece program in 2024. In May, Mallory will graduate with a Bachelor of Arts in Dance and a Bachelor of Science in Journalism and Mass Communications.

Katie Noll

Katie is pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Business Analytics and a Bachelor of Arts in Dance. She trained at Miller Marley and participated in pre-college theatre. Katie served as freshman representative and social chair for the University Dance Company (2022-2024) and was on the director team for Rock Chalk Revue (2024-2025). Her artistic practice emphasizes improvisation and conceptual exploration, integrating analytical perspectives from her business studies into movement creation. She thanks her cousin for his music, her mother for putting her in dance, her family and mentors for their sacrifices and guidance, Audrey Fendler for being a sounding board, her roommates for their support, and her dancers for their passion.

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