Back-to-school season for college students always involves a hectic first week. But for dance majors at the University at Buffalo, auditioning for the university’s Zodiaque Dance Company adds another layer of excitement to the demands of the first week.
Act One: New Perspectives
In the dance studios in the basement of the Center for the Arts, more than 50 student dancers vie for a spot in the 21-member company. The cast list announcing new company members is posted before Labor Day, and rehearsals begin for the first show of the season the following week. Founded in 1974, Zodiaque Dance Company (ZDC) has been UB’s premier pre-professional dance company, presenting innovative and creative performances for more than five decades. Now in its 52nd season under the co-direction of dance faculty members Kerry Ring and Michael Deeb Weaver, the company opens its fall concert Oct. 22, with performances running through Oct. 25 in the Drama Theatre of UB’s Center for the Arts.
For dancers, the mix of faculty and guest choreographers offers the best of both worlds: the depth of long-term mentorship and the reach of connections beyond the university. Co-Director Kerry Ring describes the benefits of working with both kinds of choreographers: “Working with the dance faculty gives students the advantage of long-term familiarity with each dancer, consistent technical training, an extended creative process, and deep collaboration with the design and technology faculty. Guest artists provide a fresh perspective, new movement languages, fast, intensive rehearsals that mimic the professional scene, and current connections with a wider industry.”
Act Two: Studio to the Stage
Co-Director Michael Deeb Weaver notes that for 52 years, Zodiaque has invited outside voices to choreograph for the company. A faculty committee selects the guest artists, considering how each one can draw on the dancers’ physicality and athleticism and push them through the work they create. One of this year’s featured guest artists is hip-hop dancer Ephrat Asherie.
Ephrat “Bounce” Asherie is a NYC-based choreographer, performer, and b-girl, and a Bessie Award winner for Innovative Achievement in Dance. Her choreography explores NYC’s underground club community and the complex, dynamic qualities of various Black and Latine vernacular forms, including breaking, hip-hop, house, and waacking.
Senior dance major Erin Cosgrove reflects on working with Asherie: “Being able to work with Ephrat was such a wonderful learning opportunity. Throughout the process, she always taught us about the history and lineage behind the steps so that we understood the ‘why’ behind the movement. I’m grateful for the opportunity to perform this piece.”
The fall concert will also feature a new collaborative work titled shared edges by UB faculty members Kerry Ring (Theatre and Dance) and Joan Linder (Art) that connects their individual forms of artistic expression, choreography and painting, through a shared musical score. Ring’s approach draws on music visualization, a traditional choreographic method in which movement mirrors the rhythm, phrasing, and structure of a score. Linder’s paintings, created as a direct visual response to the music, then serve as a second map for the choreographer and dancers to follow. Reflecting on the process of developing the work, Ring says, “I varied my relationship to the maps provided by the music and the painting, staying close to their directions at some points and leaning into my own interpretation at others. The dancers frequently shift from embodying the lines on the paper to becoming the brush, the paint, the painter, or the musical notes.”
Professional Connections
Bringing guest artists to campus also opens doors for students beyond the Drama Theatre stage. Former Zodiaque dancer and recent UB graduate Nathan Eck ’26 made an important professional connection with Cesar Salinas ’05, associate artistic director of Giordano Dance Chicago (GDC), when Salinas returned to UB as part of Zodiaque Dance Company’s 50th anniversary celebration. Eck is now a member of GDC 2.
“Connecting with Cesar ultimately led me to audition for the company after graduation,” Eck says. “I was delighted to be accepted into GDC 2. Through UB’s commitment to bringing guest artists to campus, I made a connection that led to my first professional dance job. I’m now honored to continue learning and growing under Cesar’s mentorship.”
What Audiences Can Expect
The Zodiaque Dance Company’s 52nd Season Fall Dance Concert also includes new works by UB dance faculty Melanie Aceto, Kurt Adametz, and Jenna Zavrel, along with choreography by alumnus Richard Ashworth ’07, Bessie Award–winning guest artist Ephrat Asherie, Professor Emeritus Thomas Ralabate (ZDC’s immediate past artistic director), and MFA candidate Madeline Dembowski. All pieces are created in collaboration with UB’s Theatre Design/Technology program.
Two unique events round out the run. Studio Night Out (Oct. 24) offers dance studios a group ticket deal and a shout-out on the big screen, and UB Dance Day (Oct. 25) pairs the 2 p.m. performance with a pre-show workshop and Q&A led by UB dance majors.
Final Curtain
Both Ring and Deeb Weaver agree that whether working with faculty or guest choreographers, student dancers are planting the seeds for a career built on a broad field of study, diverse movement vocabulary, and new dance forms. Zodiaque Dance Company: Season 52 delivers a cohesive stylistic range of blended voices that exemplifies its message that “Versatility Matters.”
Zodiaque Dance Company: Season 52
Oct. 22–23, 2026, at 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 24, 2026, at 7:30 p.m.*
Oct. 25, 2026, at 2 p.m.**
UB Center for the Arts, Drama Theatre
$25 adults
$20 seniors, veterans, and UB employees
$15 students and children
$10 UB students
*Studio Night Out
**UB Dance Day
Click here for tickets.