Good Evening Everyone,

The Department of Theatre and Dance is excited to welcome you to the MTSU Spring Dance Concert. Tonight’s performance will feature MTSU’s Dance Theatre company, performing faculty, guest artist, and student choreography. The guest artist residency is made possible due to the generous support of the MTSU Distinguished Lecture Fund. This semester’s guest artist residency features a collaborative experience with an inquisitive and engaging Florida based choreographer, Emily Cargill. 

The students you will see in tonight’s performance are all company members of MTSU Dance Theatre. The company experience is designed to replicate professional concert dance companies, giving our students and understanding of the demands of professional life. The students have spent countless hours in classes and rehearsals to prepare their minds and bodies, fine tuning their craft, for this performance.

We believe that dance is powerful, meaningful and can truly make the world a better place. We invite you to enjoy the performance.

-- Kim Holt --

Emily Cargill is the Founder and Artistic Director of Emily Cargill & Dancers. Her work has been presented at venues and festivals all across the East Coast, including the High Museum of Art, the Mint Museum, Art on the Atlanta Beltline, Richmond’s 15th Annual Mid-Atlantic Choreographic Showcase, North Carolina Dance Festival, LadyfestCLT, Skwhirlhaus Theatre, Richmond’s Dogtown Dance Theatre’s Touring Artist Series, Emory University’s Performing Arts Studio, Dance Canvas’ Emerging Choreographer Initiative, New Grounds Dance Festival, New Seeds Festival, OneSpark Festival, Modern Atlanta Dance Festival, Detroit Dance City Festival, Boston Contemporary Dance Festival, NYC10 Dance Festival, Versatility Dance Festival, Charlotte Dance Festival, Moving the Margins/The Jessie, and the Women Arts Exchange. Emily has also been commissioned to set work by Staibdance, Jacksonville Dance Theatre, Braided Light Dance Project, Kennesaw State University, Georgia College and State University, James Madison University, Washington and Lee University, Belmont Abbey College and Winthrop University.  

Emily was a founding member of the Atlanta-based modern dance company, Staibdance, as well as dancing in works by Gregory Catellier, Corian Ellisor, Kathleen Wessel, David Dorfman, Jacksonville Dance Theatre and Braided Light Dance Project. Emily has her MFA in Dance Performance and Choreography from Florida State University and her BA in Dance from James Madison University. 

Emily is currently an adjunct professor of dance at Jacksonville University, teaching all levels of contemporary technique within the dance department. 

She loves being surrounded by her two adorable and energetic daughters, her dance-enthusiast husband, her family & awesome friends, nature, the ocean, delicious desserts and art-makers of all disciplines. 

Emily is a 2023 recipient of the Community Foundation of Jacksonville’s Art Ventures Individual Artist Grant. This grant assisted in the creation process of her newest work, bone memory, which premiered at the 2nd Annual Women Arts Exchange in April 2024.

intermission

MTSU Department of Theatre and Dance would like to thank the MTSU Distinguished Lecture Fund for their generous support. Through this support, MTSU Dance students of MTSU Dance Theatre had the opportunity to engage in a choreographic residency with Florida based guest artist, Emily Cargill, for the development of a new work presented in tonight’s concert, “once,again”.

MTSU Dance Student Society Board President: Joy Echols 

Board representatives:  Julia Peasall (Vice President), Morgan Hayes (Treasurer), Emma C.W. Loy (Secretary), Millie Miles, Kai Wahba  (Student Gala Coordinator)/Assistant Student Gala Coordinator), Allyson Ruble (Social Media Rep), Natalie McCutcheon, Kenzie McCroskey, Naomi Laurent (Volunteer/Major/Minor Rep), Emma Sutt (First Year Rep), Anna Conar, Maggie Gilchrist, Miranda Laurent, Maya Siciliano, Brittany Tillery (Members at Large)

Thank you, Ascend Federal Credit Union, for sponsoring MTSU Arts.

The Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival, part of the
Rubenstein Arts Access Program, is generously funded by
David and Alice Rubenstein.

Special thanks to The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust for supporting the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts' Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival.

Additional support is provided by The Honorable Stuart Bernstein and Wilma E. Bernstein; the Dr. Gerald and Paula McNichols Foundation; and Beatrice and Anthony Welters and the AnBryce Foundation.

KCACTF is part of JFKC: A Centennial Celebration of John F. Kennedy, inspired by five enduring Ideals often ascribed to JFK: Courage, Freedom, Justice, Service, and Gratitude. Support for JKFC: A Centennial Celebration of John F. Kennedy is provided by Ambassador Elizabeth Bagley, Chevron, the Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation, and Target.

Kennedy Center education and related artistic programming is made possible through the generosity of the National Committee for the Performing Arts and the President's Advisory Committee on the Arts. This production Is entered In the Kennedy Center American College Theater
Festival (KCACTF). The aims of this national theater education program are to identity and promote quality in college-level theater production. To this end, each production entered is eligible for a response by a regional KCACTF representative, and selected students and faculty are invited to participate in KCACTF programs involving scholarships. internships, grants, and awards for actors, directors, dramaturgs, playwrights, designers, stage managers and critics at both the regional and national levels.

Productions entered on the Participating level are eligible for invitation to the KCACTF regional festival and may also be considered for national awards recognizing outstanding achievement In production, design, direction and performance.

By entering this production, our theater department is sharing in the KCACTF goals to recognize. reward. and celebrate the exemplary work produced in college and university theaters across the nation.