March 18, 2025

Come support the Drexel Dance Senior Class at their Senior Showcase presentations this spring!

The first showcase will be held in the 418 Main Building dance studio on April 12, at 5pm and 7pm. Reserve free tickets here.

This showcase is a result of each student's intense, year-long research and efforts to produce the show. The performance will include works choreographed by, Imani Gegner, Lismari Rosario, Quincy Hines, Morgan Cruise, Ciara Ford, and Nasia Boggan with a pre-show research presentation by Sara Patterson, as well as a video montage of a community based project created by Kiara Braswell. Kiara's project will also be presented in full at the Dornsife Center for Neighborhood Partnerships on May 15th.

Chiquita Anderson will be presenting a documentary in the Drexel University Screening Room on May 9th from 5pm-6pm.

Make sure to mark your calendars for all three of these projects and see below for statements from each dancer:

Chiquita Anderson
"My return to college after a thirty-year long hiatus, is a journey filled with opportunities for personal, physical and professional growth. By embracing lifelong learning, overcoming challenges, initiating new relationships, and nurturing diverse perspectives, returning students like me, can inspire others to persevere and pursue their dreams, despite their age or gender.  The financial investment in education is unwelcoming. However, coupled with the support of family, an engaged faculty and an understanding of one's purpose in life, their resiliency towards completion will lead to a fulfilling and enriching academic experience."

Kiara Braswell
“I have recently been exploring what it means to have a spiritual relationship with the Creator of the universe, and dance has been one of my most powerful tools in this journey. I quickly realized that my way of expressing myself through movement differs from what I grew up seeing in church. To deepen my understanding, I am creating a dance film that examines the essence of praise dance—what it is, what it has been, and what it can become. Through interviews and dance performances, this film will serve as a conversation starter rather than a definitive answer. My goal is not to dictate what praise dance should be, but to invite reflection on its depth, evolution,and significance. Praise dance is more than just movement—it is a spiritual language, a form of worship, and an ever-evolving expression of faith. By sharing my journey, I hope to open hearts and minds so that others can experience the profound connection I have been blessed to discover.

Morgan Cruise
“As a culmination of my journey as a dance major, I want to take a step back and dive deeper into the essence of “who I am” as an artist. To put it simply, I want to explore my style as a dancer. Starting the process of what drives me to move my body and dance aside from simply copying the moves I see in front of me. Where does my inspiration and “love” for dance come from? How can I fix the disconnect between my emotions and my dancing? How can I learn to love dancing for myself rather than showing pretty moves to put on a “performance”? When will I be allowed to be in awe of myself? What will it take for me to fall in love with moving? To tell a story without uttering a word? The power to match even the simplest of thoughts and emotions to a movement.”

Sara Patterson
“The importance of health among dancers has always been a focus of my academic career, and this project is a reflection of that focus. Pedagogy during early training shapes the way dancers view themselves and take care of their body. My research is rooted in a desire to evaluate how language and teaching methods can increase or decrease risk of long-term injury through a physical therapy lens.”

Nasia Boggan
“I transferred to Drexel for my fourth and final year. This project is about authenticity within the dance industry and staying true to yourself as an artist and as a person. Throughout my time in college I’ve been trying to figure out who I am as a dancer and who I want to be as a professional. This project is just the first step in that ongoing process for me. My experience at Drexel has been lovely thus far. Everyone, from the teachers to the students, have made me feel so welcomed and accepted. I’m glad to finish my college experience with these people.”

Imani Gegner
“As an African American dancer, I think it’s important to learn about the roots of Jazz dance and where it comes from. This project allows me to look at the differences between Authentic Jazz and Commercial Jazz—how they compare, how they feel, and how they’re expressed. Going into Dance/Movement Therapy, I want to understand different dance styles and how they shape movement and expression.”

Lismari Rosario
“I am consistently inspired by the art surrounding me and have always wanted to explore where visual art and performance art intertwine within each-other. I love any opportunity to push my choreographic process and fully understand the different aspects of being a mover and artist. This journey of artistic exploration has already proved to be enlightening and inspiring in many ways and I am excited to share my findings and continue to grow and find new ways to fuse different art forms together.”

Ciara Ford
“I always aim to demonstrate the endless possibility of what art can be and what it looks like to push ourselves to the limit. In a multitude of methods, this project of mine practices and correlates with curiosities of ethnic and gender fairness while simultaneously, directly, engaging with students and faculties. With deep questioning, I am looking at and into myself.  I am a black, queer, female-presenting person. The intersectionality of who I am has me questioning how I am perceived— the world inevitably makes me aware of this. I continue to exhaust my feelings of working until there is no end. My work is a form of engagement. My work is movement and will dance, moving somewhere.”

Quincy Hines
“Coming to university, I experienced a whole new world of dance that I was rarely exposed to growing up. Concert dance. I want to unpack my experiences from competition dance and intertwine it with my newer experiences in concert dance. I want to acknowledge this transition that I found to be difficult four years ago, but now I do not think twice about. I want to unpack all of my highs, my lows and all that comes in between, of the life I’ve been so deeply involved with for years and years.”