The Lewis Center for the Arts’ Program in Dance at Princeton University presents Consensus of Forms, an evening of new dance works choreographed and performed by guest artists and Princeton seniors. Performances are March 27 at 7:30 p.m. and March 28 at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. at the Hearst Dance Theater in the Lewis Arts complex on the Princeton campus. Free and open to the public, tickets can be reserved through University Ticketing. The Hearst Dance Theater is an accessible venue with wheelchair and companion seating in the front row and an assistive listening system. Guests in need of other access accommodations are invited to contact the Lewis Center at least one week in advance at LewisCenter@princeton.edu.
The new works on the program include:
“DENIZENS,” choreographed by senior Maya Sessions, is an exploration of the dynamics of strangers existing in close proximity to one another through the lenses of collectivism, sonder, and community. Through contemporary dance and contact improvisation, the work examines how shifting perspectives of ourselves and others can shape and evolve our transient social relationships. With original music by Ryan Wolfe, the work is performed by Jacob Cowan ’29, Lori Gallo ’28, Alex Picoult ’26, Tobias Seabold ’28, Mariel Shapiro ’27, Renata Suarez ’28, and Jadi Wang ’26. Susan Marshall, director of the Program in Dance, is Sessions’ faculty advisor.
Sessions is from Amherst, Massachusetts, and is majoring in mechanical engineering with minors in computer science and dance. Before college, she trained in ballet, contemporary modern, and contact improvisation at Amherst Ballet and choreographed a number of solo and group works. At Princeton, Sessions has performed in works by Kyle Abraham, Brian Brooks, and Yue Yin, and was awarded the Alex Adam ’07 award to perform dance research in San Francisco and Japan in the summer of 2025 as preparation for “DENIZENS.” She has choreographed numerous works for teaching, stage, and film through student groups BodyHype Dance Company and Triple 8 Dance Company.
The cast of “DENIZENS,” a new work by Princeton senior Maya Sessions, in rehearsal for the work’s premiere at the dance concert, Consensus of Forms. Photo Credit: Jon Sweeney
“Of Vibrance and Wonder” is a new solo created for senior Sally Menaker by guest choreographer Amy Hall Garner that takes audiences on an adventure rooted in a festive cadence and spirited momentum. Menaker notes that this theatrical contemporary work features artistry and athleticism combined with irresistible energy making for a captivating celebration. The piece is set to music by Wynton Marsalis in collaboration with Yacub Addy.
Hall Garner’s work is recognized internationally, with commissions from notable companies such as New York City Ballet, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Paul Taylor Dance Company, Miami City Ballet, ABT Studio Company, The Joffrey Ballet, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, BalletX, Carolina Ballet, Collage Dance Collective, and many more. Her theatrical choreography credits include The Color Purple for Milwaukee Repertory Theater, Dreamgirls for Paramount Theatre, and Choir Boy for Yale Repertory Theatre. Garner made her Houston Grand Opera debut as choreographer for Il Trovatore in 2024. In 2018, she was selected to participate in Alvin Ailey’s New Directions Choreography Lab, supported by the Ford Foundation. In addition, Garner was one of the first recipients of The Joffrey Ballet’s Choreography of Color Award (now titled Winning Works). Recently, she created a new children’s ballet titled Rita Finds Home for Grainger Academy of The Joffrey Ballet and reimagined Baltimore School for the Arts’ new production of The Nutcracker: A Magical Tale in Mount Vernon. Garner is an adjunct professor at New York University’s New Studio on Broadway at Tisch School of the Arts and is both resident choreographer at Carolina Ballet and the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation Choreographer-in-Residence at BalletX in Philadelphia.
Menaker is a senior from Highland Park, Illinois, majoring in ecology and evolutionary biology and pursuing minors in global health and health policy, and dance. Prior to Princeton, Menaker was a member of Extensions Dance Company in Chicago, in addition to training with Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, DanceWorks Chicago, Alonzo King Lines Ballet, Northwest Dance Project, Giordano Dance Chicago, and Interlochen Center for the Arts. At Princeton, she has performed works by Caili Quan, Rashaun Mitchell and Silas Riener, Bill T. Jones, Christopher Ralph, and Kyle Abraham. She has also danced in the independent original projects of students Olivia Buckhorn and Isabel Kingston. Menaker served as artistic director of the student group BodyHype Dance Company in 2024 and is also a member of Princeton University Ballet. After graduation, Menaker will work as a consultant for Bain & Company in New York City and plans to continue dancing as much as possible in her spare time.
“Reverdie” is a new solo created for senior Helena Richardson by guest choreographer Amanda Treiber. French for “re-greening,” reverdie refers to a genre of medieval French poems, especially dancing songs, hailing the arrival of spring. Joining together ballet and natural movement, the work imagines springtime, dawn, and the “re-greening” of a forest — celebrating the beauty of life in transition, which Richardson notes comes at a particularly timely moment for her and her fellow seniors.
Treiber is a Brooklyn-based choreographer, educator, freelance dance artist, and artistic director of Amanda Treiber + Company. Her choreographic work has been presented by New York Theatre Ballet, Judson Memorial Church, The Little Orchestra Society, Kutztown University, The International Collective, CounterPointe, WestFest Dance, and Battery Dance Festival. She has been awarded grants from the New York City Artist Corps, choreographic residencies at Sky Hill Farm Studio, and she was a semi-finalist in the 2023 Goodmesh Concours competition. Treiber’s work celebrates collaboration across all art forms. She has collaborated with composers Phyllis Chen, Lauren Vandervelden, and Kornel Thomas; Chilean bassist Manuel Figueroa-Bolvarán; and visual artist Marcy Rosenblat. Dance Enthusiast said of Treiber’s work, “Witnessing the blending and melding of people and art was an unforgettable experience, one that left a lasting impression on the audience.” Formerly a principal dancer with New York Theatre Ballet, Treiber has been featured in masterworks by legendary choreographers including Jerome Robbins, Antony Tudor, Agnes DeMille, Merce Cunningham, and Jose Limón, and she has originated roles in premieres by notable dance artists such as Pam Tanowitz, Gemma Bond, Richard Alston, and Antonia Franceschi. Treiber holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in dance from Florida State University.
Richardson is from Phoenix and is majoring in English with minors in creative writing, computer science, and dance. Before college, she trained at Ballet Theatre of Phoenix and Southwest Ballet Theatre, with summer intensives at the schools of Ballet Arizona, Anaheim Ballet, and American Ballet Theatre. At Princeton, she has performed works by Caili Quan, Amy Hall Garner, Matthew Neenan, Pam Tanowitz, Shamel Pitts, and Mark Morris. She is also a member, three-time choreographer, and former media chair for Princeton University Ballet, as well as a mentor and coordinator for the Princeton chapter of the educational nonprofit Ballet & Books.
“Echo” is a new solo choreographed by Yue Yin and performed by senior Pippa LaMacchia examining cultural representation and return—how movement is generated, layered, and transformed.
Yin is a choreographer, the founder and artistic director of YY Dance Company (YYDC), and the creator of FoCo Technique™. She began her training in Chinese classical and folk dance in Shanghai, China, at the Shanghai Dance Academy; continued contemporary dance study at Shanghai Normal University; and completed her M.F.A. in dance at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts in 2008. In 2018, Yin founded YYDC, a non-profit, contemporary dance company dedicated to the teaching, production, and performance of her original choreographic work. Under her direction, the company has recently been presented by the Women Move the World season at 92NY and performed at New York Live Arts, Chelsea Factory, and BAM Fisher. The company was invited four times to perform at festivals in Germany and Serbia and has toured extensively in Italy. In 2026, YYDC will engage in its first domestic tour to Ohio with Mutual Dance and DANCECleveland. Yin has received a New York State Council on the Arts/New York Foundation for the Arts Artist Fellowship in Choreography, a Harkness Promise Award, the Hubbard Street Dance Chicago International Commissioning Project, a BalletX Choreographic Fellowship, an emerging choreographer award from Springboard Danse Montreal, and the Northwest Dance Project’s 5th Annual Pretty Creatives International Choreographic Competition.
LaMacchia is from Brooklyn, New York, and is majoring in English with minors in dance, French, and humanistic studies. Prior to Princeton, she danced at the Joffrey Ballet School in New York City, The Ailey School, and Brooklyn Ballet. Since arriving at Princeton, she has danced in works by Caili Quan, Davalois Fearon, Amy Hall Garner, Bill T. Jones, Yue Yin, Stephen Petronio, Kyle Abraham, and Mark Morris. She is also a member of Princeton University Ballet.
Christopher Ralph’s new work “Unanchored,” featuring Princeton senior Ella Colby, explores the theme of being unattached and unstable for a moment in time. The physical movement can be tender, intense, and sporadic all while driving the story forward. The work allows the audience to be the voyeur, witnessing the moments usually kept private. The piece is danced to an original score by Georgia Dahill-Fuchel.
Christopher Ralph began his dance training at Holy Trinity High School, where he was accepted into the theater and dance program and then attended SUNY Purchase College. He has performed with companies and choreographers such as Aszure Barton and Artists, Sonya Tayeh, Gregory Dolbashian (The DASH Ensemble), Loni Landon, Rebecca Lazier, Janis Brenner, Patrick Corbin, Doug Varone at the Metropolitan Opera, FKA Twigs, Gatsby: An American Myth, and Life and Trust. He can be seen dancing in Saturday Church, a well-received film at the Tribeca Film Festival, and the Hulu series Up Here. While maintaining his performance career, Ralph teaches contemporary dance and improvisational techniques, fusing all styles and genres of dance, at Peridance Center, Princeton, and New York University, as well as to students in a number of countries.
Colby is a New York City native studying computer science with minors in statistics and machine learning, and dance. She began dancing at the age of two at the Joffrey Ballet School, with the majority of her training at Downtown Dance Factory and LaGuardia High School of the Performing Arts, where she majored in dance. Additional training includes The Ailey School and the American Tap Dance Foundation, as well as summer intensives with MOVE|NYC|, American Ballet Theatre, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Alonzo King LINES Ballet, Complexions Contemporary Ballet, and Boston Conservatory at Berklee. At Princeton, Colby has performed repertory by Bill T. Jones, Kyle Abraham, and Susan Marshall, and she has appeared in an independent project choreographed by Isabel Kingston. She is a member of Princeton University Ballet and BodyHype Dance Company and received funding through the Sam Hutton Fund for the Arts to support her training in the summer of 2025.
The Program in Dance, now in its 55th year, has grown to include five full-time and nine adjunct faculty and offers 18 different courses serving more than 400 students each year with a curriculum that includes introductory courses, courses suited for dancers at the pre-professional level, as well as courses in dance studies and interdisciplinary contemporary practices. Seniors minoring in dance undertake a course of study and performance; co-curricular classes; technical hours; and an independent project such as choreographing a new work, performing a new or repertory work by a professional guest choreographer or faculty member, or undertaking a work of dance scholarship. Consensus of Forms represents the independent work in the minor for these five seniors.
Marshall is the overall faculty production advisor for the performance. Faculty members Davalois Fearon and Tina Fehlandt are directing the four performance projects. Lighting design is by Lecturer in Theater Tess James and music direction by Vince di Mura, with Mary Jo Mecca as costume advisor, and Mary-Susan Gregson as stage manager.
Visit the Lewis Center website to learn more about the Program in Dance, the Lewis Center for the Arts, and the more than 100 public performances, exhibitions, readings, screenings, concerts, lectures, and special events presented by the Lewis Center each year, most of them free.
