Student choreographers discuss their inspiration
November 2025 – From November 20-22, the Drew University Theatre and Dance Department and Drew University Dramatic Society will present the dance show Homage: Roots & Returns.
The dance show will be directed by Camille Moten Rennie, adjunct professor of theatre arts, and choreographed by 10 current students.
The show will host evening performances on November 20 and 21, with a matinee on November 22.
The student choreographers each offered insights into their pieces, including their inspirations and themes.
My piece explores the hardships that lovers, friends, and others have to face in our society. Constant judging and stereotypes placed upon different groups can cause us to lose ourselves and live the life that society wants, not what they want. It is important to me that everyone should be able to love the way they want. Life is short and we only have so much time. The goal of this piece is to show the audience that love’s journey is always beautiful and there is no reason someone should get in the way of that. – Alice Lebofsky C’28
My dance piece, set to Billie Eilish’s Blue and Chihiro, explores the fluid and unpredictable waves of emotion that accompany grief. Through a trio embodying Grief, Confusion, and Anger, the choreography personifies each emotion as a living force that collides, resists, and intertwines with the others. The piece captures how these emotions shift and overlap, revealing the turbulent yet transformative nature of loss. – Samara Krautwald C’27
My piece, “Magic is Alive”, is about the deterioration of my body due to Ankylosing Spondylitis. It is my final solo performance in the body I have today as a way to honor the dancing I have done and give closure to my soloist career. – Chloe Dudonis C’27
My piece explores the power of storytelling, and the silence that surrounds the stories we are encouraged not to share. The movement highlights the tension between expression and censorship, giving voice to the untold narratives that are often hidden, suppressed, or deemed unacceptable. It is a dance about reclaiming space for truth, memory, and the stories that demand to be heard. – Nicole Harris C’27
My piece explores the idea of home and community. How do those elements translate when we are faced with political and social tension? And how do we find comfort through our passions and relationships? – Natalia Rakviashvili C’26
My piece is celebrating queer joy through queer ballroom and vogue femme dances. Through this piece, I aim to highlight the love and vibrance in queer spaces and shine a light in a very dark present for queer individuals today. – Kayla Rose C’26
My piece underscores the divine purpose each individual has on this planet. It’s a call to action to create meaningful change in our communities while contributing to greater global impact. It is a homage to faith, legacy and culture rooted in African traditional movements. Dide serves as a reminder that the battle is already won through faith. – Olufeyikemi Olurantimi Joy Akinyemi-Lawale C’27
My piece represents the calm in between the storm. A period of discovery and self-growth, and the process of changing as one gets older. This piece represents how each state of living; past, present, and future. All play a part in becoming the person you want to be, and to live in every moment. Throughout, you can see each dancer plays a different part in life, the past, present, and future, while they’re doing different moves in the beginning, they come together as one with acceptance of each, that each state they’re in has meaning without worry or fear of one another. – Aziza Hopkins C’28
My piece represents my culture and also dedicates it to my father. I try to evoke the social aspect of every family party where everyone is dancing while also bringing in my own flair as well as bringing in aspects of my childhood/present when my father and I dance together. – Amayah Abreu C’29
My piece explores the incomprehensible vastness of the universe, and pays homage to the diminutive and calming nature of existing among elements unfathomably huge. It explores nature’s push, pull, and connectedness, and investigates the time from dusk till dawn. How do we experience the wonders of the world? What journeys and experiences might they themselves be having? – Cecilia Lomanno C’26
