The Florida State University School of Dance will bring new choreography, creative research and artistic collaboration to the stage during its 2026-27 production season, “Unbound.”  

The season features performances and special events that showcase the range of creative work and inquiry taking place across the School of Dance.  

The season opens Oct. 6 with the Tallahassee premiere of “Adele Myers and Dancers: a world gone FABULOUS” at the Nancy Smith Fichter Dance Theatre, presented in partnership with Opening Nights. 

“We are especially pleased to have our students featured as part of this Opening Nights performance,” said James Frazier, dean of the College of Fine Arts. “The evening will open with a newly commissioned work performed by our senior dance majors. It gives our students the chance to bring their work to a broader audience and gain valuable experience performing alongside professionals.” 

“Unbound” combines longtime-favorite productions, including Days of Dance in the fall and Evenings of Dance in the spring, with new opportunities for creative exploration. Among this year’s additions is the inaugural Meridian Dance Film Festival, a juried event that promises to feature work from filmmakers from around the world.  

“This season reveals the depth and range of creative work within our community,” said Helanius J. Wilkins, chair of the School of Dance. “At its core, ‘Unbound’ honors our rich legacy while creating space for reinvention. It invites curiosity, rigorous artistic inquiry and new perspectives while expanding opportunities for collaboration among our students, faculty and distinguished guest artists.” 

Visit the FSU Dance website to purchase tickets. For more information about the FSU School of Dance, visit dance.fsu.edu.   

2026-27 School of Dance performance schedule 

Oct. 6 — Adele Myers and Dancers: a world gone FABULOUS: Presented in partnership with Opening Nights, the Tallahassee premiere features Adele Myers and Dancers, with senior dance majors opening the evening with a newly commissioned work. 

Nov. 6. 7, 13, 14 — Days of Dance: This annual mainstage production brings together works by faculty with a juried selection of pieces by students and staff, performed by School of Dance students.  

Dec. 3 — Sketches: This new, scaled-down dance production emphasizes experimentation and student-driven perspectives, featuring a range of dance styles and creative approaches.  

Jan. 22 — Emerging Voices: A Graduate Showcase: This new showcase presents original works by graduate students in the School of Dance, inviting audiences to explore the questions, processes and possibilities shaping their creative work. 

Feb. 5 — Festival of the Creative Arts: Part of FSU’s annual celebration of interdisciplinary creativity, “Into the Deep” brings together oceanography, dance, music, poetry and other disciplines, with an emphasis on student-created work. 

Feb. 6-7 — Young Dancers Workshop: The annual Young Dancers’ Workshop gives about 200 dancers, ages 10 to 18 the opportunity to participatein a weekend of master classes with School of Dance faculty, including Suzanne Farrell, and invited guest artists.  

Feb. 6 — Meridian Dance Film Festival: This inaugural juried dance film festival features works selected from filmmakers around the world, givingaudiences an opportunity to experience diverse approaches to dance that extend beyond the boundaries of the stage. 

April 9-10 — Evenings of Dance: The School of Dance’s annual spring mainstage production features student performers in works created by School of Dance faculty and distinguished guest artists, highlighting the creative exchanges that emerge through mentorship, collaboration and artistic practice. 
April 13 — Senior Capstone: The Senior Capstone showcases culminating creative projects by graduating students, who bring together their artistic, technical and scholarly development through original work presented to the School of Dance community. 

The post FSU School of Dance brings discovery to the stage with 2026-27 ‘Unbound’ season appeared first on Florida State University News.

The Florida State University Museum of Fine Arts (MoFA) will present “Floating Metal: UNDERcurrents In My Father’s Garden” beginning Aug. 27, an immersive performance exhibition bringing together the work of two artists and FSU faculty members, father and daughter Ed Love and nia love.

Conceived by School of Dance Professor and Guggenheim-winning choreographer nia love and co-curator Benin Ford, “Floating Metal” brings love’s choreography and dance films into conversation with the work of her father, Ed Love, a sculptor, fellow Guggenheim recipient and celebrated member of the Black Arts Movement. Known for transforming discarded scrap metal into powerful sculptures, Ed Love served as an FSU professor of visual arts from 1990 until his death in 1999.

“One of the central ideas of ‘Floating Metal: UNDERcurrents In My Father’s Garden’ is that our understanding of an artist is never complete. Knowledge unfolds as new works, memories, archives, relationships, and perspectives are brought into conversation,” said Kaylee Spencer, director of the museum. “By looking at Ed Love’s work through the experience of nia love’s performances and video installations, we can revisit the past with new information and see the present differently. We are excited to share this experience with the Tallahassee community.”

The exhibition will combine dance, live jazz music and video projection with the first museum presentation of images from Ed Love’s 1988 “Beloved” series and a selection of his metal sculptures commemorating Black historical figures.

The exhibition is personal for nia love because it draws on her relationship with her father and her own experiences as an artist.

“My father sent me forth to do the dance,” said love. “What happened to tear us apart is not a small thing. It all crosses the seas, estuaries and rivers. Floating Metal recalls and continues this movement. It is a prayer of memory and healing, and a message of invention and rupture.”

nia love will perform at the museum Aug. 27-29 as part of the exhibition. Performances are free and open to the public, but reservations are requiredbecause of limited capacity. Free tickets are available through Eventbrite.

The exhibition also will feature a live performance camera obscura installation encompassing the museum’s central gallery. The darkened installation will project the movements of performers and audience members as images onto the museum walls.

An opening reception will be held at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 3. The event is free and open to the public.

love began developing work related to “Floating Metal” during a 2022 residency at FSU’s Maggie Allesee National Center for Choreography, before joining the School of Dance faculty. During the residency, she conducted research and developed choreography that contributed to the exhibition.

The presentation of “Floating Metal: UNDERcurrents In My Father’s Garden” was made possible by the New England Foundation for the Arts’ National Dance Project, with lead funding from the Doris Duke Foundation and the Mellon Foundation. Additional support comes from FSU’s Council on Research + Creativity.

MoFA is Tallahassee’s only art museum accredited by the American Association of Museums. Home to a permanent collection of over 7,000 objects and works of art, the museum fosters creativity, collaboration and connection in our community. Visit the MoFA website to learn more and plan your visit.

 Performance schedule

Thursday, Aug. 27: 5:30 p.m. 

Friday, Aug. 28: 5:30 p.m. 

Saturday, Aug. 29: 11:30 a.m., 3:30 p.m. 

The post FSU Museum of Fine Arts opens new performance exhibition exploring work of father, daughter appeared first on Florida State University News.

Long before Florida State University became known for its research enterprise and nationally ranked academic programs, the arts were helping shape the life of the university.

Music, theater and visual arts were among the earliest academic offerings at the institution that would become FSU, predating many of the STEM and professional programs taught at the university today.

Over the decades, those programs have grown into nationally recognized schools in music, film, theater, dance and design while bringing world-class artists, exhibitions and performances to campus.

Today, as Florida State celebrates its 175th anniversary, the arts remain central to the university’s identity by enriching campus life, connecting the university with the community and preparing generations of artists, performers and creators.

The post FSU 175: 25 defining moments in the arts at Florida State appeared first on Florida State University News.

The post Florida State University dance professor receives Guggenheim Fellowship for Choreography appeared first on Florida State University News.

The Florida State University School of Dance will present its annual “Days of Dance” performances this month, featuring two distinct programs, each with a collection of works choreographed and performed by students and faculty.   

For more than 50 years, “Days of Dance” has been a hallmark of the season for FSU Dance, offering the Tallahassee community an opportunity to experience the breadth and caliber of work being created and performed in the studios and on the stages of Montgomery Hall.  

“We are incredibly excited to share our 2026 Days of Dance performances,” said Helanius J. Wilkins, Chair of the School of Dance. “The incredible range of the programming, including Tap, Ballet, African-Diasporic and Contemporary works, showcases the multitude of voices and perspectives that make up our School of Dance. There’s something for everyone who loves dance, so please come join us, and enjoy both programs if you’re able.”      

The post FSU School of Dance presents Days of Dance appeared first on Florida State University News.

The Florida State University School of Dance will launch a one-of-a-kind certificate program this fall, providing formal training for musicians interested in working in the dance field.

Created in partnership with the College of Music, the new Dance Accompanying Certificate is designed to develop the skills, experience and musical adaptability needed to work alongside performers and choreographers in academic institutions, conservatories and professional studios.

“This certificate offers students a rare hands-on opportunity to develop both the musical and collaborative skills needed to work with dancers,” said Daniel Smith, School of Dance assistant professor and director of the certificate program. “Dance accompanying is a sophisticated musical practice that requires creativity, artistic awareness and a deep sensitivity to movement.”

The post Florida State University School of Dance announces new certificate program in dance accompanying appeared first on Florida State University News.

(Updated 12:20 p.m. Jan. 28, 2026) 

Florida State University’s Office of Research will host the 2026 Festival of the Creative Arts, a campuswide event that highlights the voices, talents and creativity of FSU faculty and students in February and early March.

Departments from across campus will celebrate the innovation and creative excellence that results from combining various modes of expression and disciplines.

“Each year, the Festival of the Creative Arts celebrates interdisciplinary engagement across campus with events that include faculty and student participation,” said Iain Quinn, festival director and FSU’s Research Fellow in the arts and humanities. “In addition to ongoing research conversations that develop from one festival to another, there are also new collaborations and multiple first performances.”

Several events are offered for K-12 students and families, including “It’s the Weather!” at the Challenger Learning Center of Tallahassee on Saturday, Feb. 7. There will also be a premiere of a new performance work involving digital art and music.

“It’s an excellent opportunity to learn about the historic and contemporary connections between art and science with multiple hands-on activities,” Quinn said. “The festival is always a special opportunity for everyone to be inspired by the creative spirit that defines FSU.”

All events are free of charge, and no reservations are required. For more information, visit research.fsu.edu/fca.

The full list of events includes:

FRIDAY, FEB. 6

Poets at the Party
7:30 – 8:30 p.m.
Nancy Smith Fichter Dance Theatre, Katherine W. Montgomery Hall

A special collaboration between dance, hospitality, music and poetry featuring multiple premieres across disciplines.

Participants: Darcie Ogando Almánzar, Jacob Andrews, Lilian Baker, Shea Boeker, Jacob Grice, Isabelle Hagley, Caroline Laganas, Raúl Parra, Natalie Eleanor Patterson, Camille Pepper, Christell Victoria Roach, Jan Schwalbe, Sophia Upshaw, Hugh Wilhelm, Kuan-Yu Yang and members of the FSU Trombone Choir. 

SATURDAY, FEB. 7

It’s the Weather!
10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Challenger Learning Center of Tallahassee

Come and learn about the weather and nature in works of art while discovering scientific facts about the world around us. This event features hands-on activities led by faculty from the departments of art history, art education and music education, as well as the first performance of a new interdisciplinary work with digital art and music. Great for K-12 students.

Participants: Angelina Ciardi, Eren Gümrükçüoğlu, Ann Harrington, Stephanie Leitch, Marlo Ransdell, Keith Roberson, Sara Scott Shields, the FSU Guitar Ensemble and the National Weather Service Tallahassee.

SUNDAY, FEB. 8

Storytime Under the Stars
6 – 7 p.m.
Challenger Learning Center of Tallahassee

Experience an evening of nostalgia and wonder at the Fogg Planetarium, where classic stories come to life under a celestial canopy of stars. This event is specially designed for young children and their families.

Participant: Christine Hansen.

TUESDAY, FEB. 10

Arts-Health-Humanities Symposium VI
12 – 2:30 p.m.
Claude Pepper Center

This annual festival meeting of faculty and students — from design, medicine, music education, music therapy and musicology — continues conversations about current research and future interdisciplinary collaborations. Includes poster presentations by art therapy and music therapy.

Participants: Michael Bakan, Daejin Kim, Adriana Lizardi-Vázquez, Parintorn “Pim” Pankaew, James Riley, Tana Jean Welch and Racheal Yap.

THURSDAY, FEB. 12

Classics Symposium
5:30 – 7 p.m.
Beth Moor Lounge, Longmire Building

Join a celebration of Ancient Greek and Latin poetry featuring an evening of readings of ancient texts and creative performances by students and faculty.

Coordinator: Virginia Lewis.

MONDAY, FEB. 16

Nickel Boys
6 – 9 p.m.
Askew Student Life Center

Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Colson Whitehead, “Nickel Boys” chronicles the powerful friendship between two young African American men sentenced to Nickel Academy. Co-presented with the FSU Civil Rights Institute.

Participants: Ted T. Ellis, Keithen Mathis, Dennis Moore and Mark Schlakman.

TUESDAY, FEB. 17

The Art of Walking
12 – 1:15 p.m.
Bradley Reading Room, Strozier Library

Walking in the city is not only a form of physical exercise and transportation, but a social and cultural practice described as flânerie. The lecture will amble through some of the major French figures who wrote about the flâneur’s and flâneuse’s kaleidoscopic encounters with the sights and sounds of urban life. Co-presented with the Milton S. Carothers Faculty Lecture Series.

Participants: Aimée Boutin and Meaghan McSorley.

FRIDAY, FEB. 20

Lay of the Land
Symposium: 2 – 5:30 p.m.; Opening: 6 – 8 p.m.
Facility for Arts Research

“Lay of the Land” is a Department of Art faculty exhibition and symposium exploring the beauty, complexity and fragility of the landscapes we inhabit.

Participants: Department of Art Faculty.

SUNDAY, FEB. 22

Chamber Music of Frank Martin
4 – 5:30 p.m.
Longmire Recital Hall

A concert devoted to the music of the great Swiss composer Frank Martin (1890-1974), offering an exceptional opportunity to hear his distinctive voice across numerous contrasting ensembles.

Participants: Stijn De Cock, Geoffrey Deibel, Amy Dill, Suzanne Lommler, Mary Matthews, Dylan Principi, Pamela Ryan, Gregory Sauer, Natalie Sherer, Marcy Stonikas, Shannon Thomas and Valerie Trujillo.

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 25

The Contemporary Film – Finding Your Family
6 – 9 p.m.
Askew Student Life Center

An evening of cinematic exploration with panel discussions about the many definitions of family. Screening of a collection of student shorts followed by a Q&A conversation with members of FSUFILM faculty.

FRIDAY-SATURDAY, FEB. 27-28

24-Hour Create-A-Thon
Feb. 27, 4 p.m. – 12 a.m.; Feb. 28, 8 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Pitches, Performances, Awards: Feb. 28, 2 – 4 p.m.
Innovation Hub

FSU students from across campus work in interdisciplinary teams to develop new works that celebrate creativity as a foundation of innovation across the disciplines. Registration opens Jan. 26.

Coordinator: Ken Baldauf.

SUNDAY, MARCH 1

Interlocking Art: A Mixed Media Gala
6 – 9 p.m.
Student Union

Club Downunder and the Department of Student Engagement present an evening of student creativity across the arts, culminating in an annual fashion show.

Exhibitions

Water Ways: Indigenous Ecologies and Florida Heritage
Elizabeth A. Cecil (Curator)
Co-presented with the FSU Native American and Indigenous Studies Center.
Museum of Fine Arts

Akimbo: A Solo Exhibition by Zoë Charlton
An installation and animated film exploring themes of memory, place, and resilience in the Tallahassee Landscape.
Museum of Fine Arts

Lay of the Land
Department of Art Faculty
Facility for Arts Research

The Art of Healing – Ted T. Ellis
Robert Manning Strozier Library

The post FSU to host 2026 Festival of the Creative Arts appeared first on Florida State University News.

Florida State University’s School of Dance presents “An Evening of Dance” featuring a blend of contemporary and traditional works, staged and choreographed by FSU faculty and nationally acclaimed guest artists and performed by FSU dance students.

Performances will take place at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 7, and Saturday, Nov. 8, at the Nancy Smith Fichter Dance Theatre in Montgomery Hall.

The post FSU School of Dance presents ‘An Evening of Dance’ appeared first on Florida State University News.

The post FSU’s School of Dance preserves legacy of modern dance pioneers through costume collection appeared first on Florida State University News.

Florida State University’s Gwen Welliver has dedicated her career as a choreographer and dancer to exploring the expressions of lines in performance and visual art. In 2020, a new intangible but transformative line impacted her life and career, culminating in her recognition as a Guggenheim Fellow.

Welliver, associate professor in the School of Dance, is part of the 100th class of Guggenheim Fellows, 198 distinguished individuals working across 53 disciplines. She was among a group of about 3,500 artists, writers, scholars and scientists who participated in the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation’s competition. Her fellowship is in the choreography category.

“The Guggenheim Fellowship is one of the highest honors that can be awarded to an artist, and Gwen is truly deserving of this recognition,” said James Frazier, dean of the College of Fine Arts. “Her dedication to her craft shines through in her work as a choreographer, performer and instructor. Gwen is exploring new horizons in the field of dance and serving as a mentor to the next generation of leaders in the field. We are incredibly proud to count her among our School of Dance faculty, and to congratulate her on this prestigious award.”

Welliver’s work, which spans performance, teaching, opera and drawing, has been recognized with numerous awards and fellowships throughout her career, including the Bogliasco Foundation Fellowship in Choreography, the New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship in Choreography, and the New York Dance and Performance (“Bessie”) Award for Sustained Achievement in Dancing.

“Thankfully, I have a brilliant, hilarious and generous family who encouraged me to keep applying for the Guggenheim Fellowship. That was good advice!” she said. “In this moment I want to immediately highlight all my extraordinary collaborators whose commitment, skill and character are of the highest caliber. Thank you to FSU’s Council on Research and Creativity for their invaluable support for the research necessary to make original work. I’m elated and deeply honored to be selected as a Guggenheim Fellow.”

In 2019, Welliver embarked on a new series of projects, driven by her curiosity about simultaneity — the idea of a performer negotiating multiple things at the same time, or within the work itself. Little did she know that the pandemic would soon hit and force her and her team to face this concept in a completely new way. Her ability to adapt to the shifting environment helped her create unique works and she continues to explore the theme of losing control of the outcome.

“The simultaneity of academic demands and creative pursuits has been a constant in my life. Being honored with the Guggenheim amidst a curriculum committee meeting, where I was mapping student learning outcomes to courses, beautifully illustrates the balance I strive for between my roles as an educator and a choreographer. It reminds me of the importance of focus and dedication to one’s work, regardless of the setting or recognition.”

— Gwen Welliver, associate professor in the School of Dance

“The fear and isolation brought by the pandemic turned private spaces into public ones, thanks to Zoom, and disorientation became a new reality,” she said. “However, losing control isn’t an obstacle but a gift. In allowing both the performer and the director to confront the impossibility of the task, we find true artistry in the struggle and unpredictability of the outcome.”

For her fellowship submission, Welliver proposed a piece called “We Are No Longer Ourselves (Live),” the eighth in a series of works including one live performance, three dance-on-video works, a documentary titled “Pandemic Dance Making,” and two in-process books of images.

As a choreographer, Welliver believes “adaptability is key; it involves reflecting on who you’re working with, where you’re working and the possibilities around you. It’s about embracing the contemporary moment and the people, place and time, thus unlocking new creative potential.”

Despite her preference for live performances, she adapted to the circumstances and produced video works, incorporating the close-up and framing techniques she had developed from Zoom rehearsals. Performers engaged in both simple and complex actions while also combining improvisation with storytelling that questioned reality and imagination.

“These tracks included physical tasks, such as line, fold and rotate, and simple stories like ‘go away and come back with purpose,’” she said. “This approach allowed for remarkable human moments and high-level improvisation.”

When Welliver finally brought her collaborators into the same room at the Baryshnikov Arts Center in New York City, she set up half of the studio space with mirrors and props to mimic the apartments they had been rehearsing in, while the other half remained open.

“This taught me a lot about the assumptions I had been making about my work and allowed the performers to traverse and re-situate their typical place of working,” she said.

The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation grants fellowships to individuals who have shown a significant capacity for productive scholarship or creative ability in the arts. Recipients receive a monetary stipend to support their independent work. Welliver plans to incorporate the concept of simultaneity throughout her fellowship, continuously exploring how performers negotiate multiple tasks in various contexts.

“The simultaneity of academic demands and creative pursuits has been a constant in my life,” she said. “Being honored with the Guggenheim amidst a curriculum committee meeting, where I was mapping student learning outcomes to courses, beautifully illustrates the balance I strive for between my roles as an educator and a choreographer. It reminds me of the importance of focus and dedication to one’s work, regardless of the setting or recognition.”

The post Florida State University dance professor awarded prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship for choreography appeared first on Florida State University News.

The post Night of ‘Magnetic Dances’ kicks off FSU’s Festival of the Creative Arts appeared first on Florida State University News.

Florida State University’s School of Dance students had a unique opportunity to work with world-renowned choreographer Peter Chu during two separate weeklong residencies. Chu is known for his evocative fusion of contemporary movement and traditional Chinese medicine.

During these residencies, Chu and Jenni Gordon, artistic collaborator with Chu’s company chuthis, adapted the original work of “Text When You Land,” and guided the students through an intensive creative process. This process emphasized exploring movement from new perspectives, focusing on the importance of intention and the transformative power of dance. Chu’s unique approach blends contemporary dance with elements of traditional Chinese medicine, Qigong and Taiji, immersing the students in a holistic and innovative dance experience.

“Bringing in guest artists like Chu is part of our ongoing commitment to student growth, providing dancers the opportunity to interact with and learn directly from artists of international acclaim.”

— Anjali Austin, chair of the School of Dance

“For School of Dance students, working under Chu’s mentorship was an invaluable experience — one that extended far beyond the dance floor,” said Anjali Austin, chair of the School of Dance. “Bringing in guest artists like Chu is part of our ongoing commitment to student growth, providing dancers the opportunity to interact with and learn directly from artists of international acclaim.”

Throughout the residencies, students were challenged to push their boundaries and think deeply about their artistic choices. Chu’s mentorship provided them with insights into the professional dance world, highlighting the behind-the-scenes work required to bring a piece to life. 

The culmination of this intensive process is the world premiere of Chu’s adapted piece “Text When You Take Off,” part of “An Evening of Dance,” which features works by FSU faculty alongside Chu’s. The evening not only showcases the talent and dedication of FSU’s students but underscores the School of Dance’s commitment to providing transformative, world-class learning experiences. 

The post World-renowned choreographer inspires FSU dance students through artistic collaboration appeared first on Florida State University News.