Dance program’s annual fall performance to reflect on theme of home

The dance program at Salve Regina is putting its annual fall performance at the Casino Theatre on Saturday, Nov. 19, at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Please purchase tickets online at salve.edu/performances.

Directed by Lindsay Guarino, associate professor of dance, the performance is entitled “Home” and will celebrate dance as an invitation to feel at home and experience a deep sense of joy.

“Every time our alumni come back, whether they’re invited or they’re just audience members, they always say it feels so good to be home,” said Guarino. “Home is also recognizing that the students, especially our first years, sometimes need a performance to feel like they’re part of community –and this materializes at the end of our first semester and when they are working on that shared goal together.”

This concert features choreography by Haley Andrews ’18, Cayley Christoforou ’15, Amanda Narciso Ponte ’12 and Marissa Masson ’19 — in addition to faculty member Ashley Rich and guest artists Carlos R.A. Jones and Katie Hopsicker.

“Haley Andrews is an alum that’s coming up to perform a duet that she recently choreographed and performed as part of the Rhode Island Women’s Choreography Project,” Guarino described. “Amanda Narciso Ponte owns a dance studio called Spotlight Dance Studio in Taunton, Massachusetts, and she is bringing two pieces. One is choreographed by herself and one is choreographed by alum Cayley Christoforou.”

Dancers from Ponte’s Spotlight Dance Studio will perform along with Salve Regina’s Extensions Dance Company, Andrews and guest Haylee Denham.

Photos are from past performances by Salve Regina’s dance program. 

​Most of the dancers in the Extensions Dance Company are majoring in dance at Salve Regina and are in the studio training every day. Salve Regina’s dance program has a jazz dance focus in the curriculum, made visible in performance through the aesthetic of the company. Even the pieces that lean towards contemporary rather than jazz still highlight the way rhythm, individuality, and dynamic energy are central to the way Salve Regina’s dancers work.

Isabella DeMello ’23 is an elementary education major with double minors in special education and dance. She’s excited to be performing in this performance alongside her fellow dancers.

“In this show, I’ll be performing in Marissa Masson’s piece, ‘With or Against,'” she said.
“This piece starts with all of us being against each other, not wanting to be together or support one another. Throughout the piece, the feeling shifts and we begin to see each other as individuals who need one another. There’s a lot of partner work that conveys this message, and I can’t wait to make it come to life on stage.”

Photos are from past performances by Salve Regina’s dance program.

Elisabeth Muller ’26, a double major in psychology and dance, said that she is sensing the feeling of home within the dance program even as a first year.

“I have seen how the Salve dance program can become a place where people can change for the better and make the program their home,” she said. “The show is a reflection not only of this growth at Salve but how people want to return to their home because of its impact.”

Sara McCormick ’23, a major in dance and theatre with a minor in political science, is excited to showcase the dancers’ versatility and range of emotional expression. She believes the audience will walk away felling a myriad of emotions.

“I hope audience members can experience joy, sadness, and empathy from watching the concert,” she said. “We all truly feel what we are dancing, even if it’s not all the same emotion, and I hope the audience will feel that way as well. I hope even just one audience member will feel seen and acknowledged, and if there are no words for what they are feeling, then I hope they feel seen by us.”

The Casino Theatre is located at 9 Freebody Street in Newport, Rhode Island. Tickets are free for Salve Regina students, $8 for Salve Regina faculty and staff, $10 for military and seniors, and $15 for general admission.

Please purchase tickets online at salve.edu/performances. Tickets will also be available immediately prior to each performance at the box office. For the most up-to-date information, follow Salve Regina Dance on Instagram or  Facebook.