Bekki Price

As Kendall Smith looked out to the audience at Friday evening’s Spring Commencement ceremony, she couldn’t help but reflect on her time at the University. An active member of the Honors College and the College of Arts and Media, she considered the opportunity to be the student speaker the perfect end to a memorable four-year journey at GCU. Smith expressed her gratitude in her speech for the love and care the university puts into every students experience. “I hope that students, when they graduate, that they’re proud to Lopes,” she said. “I hope all the graduates feel very thankful for all GCU has done for them.”

The final hurrah of the theatre season, the Spring Dance Concert, premiered Tuesday night and has additional shows Wednesday and Saturday. “Testimony” includes eight pieces of choreography that showcase the students inside and outside the Dance Department. “I’m super proud of the students who are involved in this production,” Dance Director Bekki Price said. “It’s just a testament to the immense talent of the student body here at GCU.”

Visitors for Homecoming Family Weekend have another option tonight in Thunderground — the Spring Student Spotlight Concert. They’ll see seven live performances and three dance films, all choreographed by students. Dance Director Bekki Price said. “The students work so hard all semester, and this is something that they do on top of their schoolwork and attending classes.. It’s incredible what they put together and the way they’re able to express themselves and share their story using movement.”

It’s been quite the year for students in the arts at GCU. One big change: a name change from the College of Fine Arts and Production to the College of Arts and Media. The new name better represent the college’s push toward collaboration and its degree offerings. “I’m excited for this rebranding of our college, because I feel it better represents who we are and where we’re going,” said Dance Director Bekki Price.

After a two-year break, the Dance Department will return to the Ethington Theatre stage this weekend with the Winter Dance Concert. Called “Emerge,” it will celebrate the growth and strength of the department from the uncertainty and stress of the pandemic. “Coming into this semester, our dance community, I feel, has never been stronger,” Director of Dance Bekki Price said.

It’s a semester full of events and experiences returning normal, and the Dance Department’s Fall Student Spotlight Concert is no exception. For the first time since the pandemic started, the student-led production will be in Thunderground on Tuesday and Wednesday nights. “I’m just impressed by all the choreographic talent of our student body,” Director of Dance Bekki Price said. “They have such strong creative points of view, and it’s really unique to get to have the opportunities that GCU provides for our students to showcase that creative process.”

Selecting Greta Sugai as this semester’s guest residency artist was a match made in heaven for Dance Director Bekki Price. GCU students worked with and learned from Sugai last week as she taught them the choreography for her piece in this winter’s “Emerge” Dance Concert. “With the guest artist residencies, I always like to add to what our program already has. Bringing in artists from all over the country who have worked all over the world and have different backgrounds and different experiences really helps open the students’ eyes up to the different possibilities that they have.” Price said.

It’s a season of celebration as College of Fine Arts and Production performances make their grand return to Ethington Theatre. Audiences will be welcomed back with an array of musicals, comedies and dramas as well as the return of indoor dance concerts. “I think it’s going to be just a really enjoyable season,” COFAP Assistant Dean of Theatre and Dance William Symington said. “I can’t wait to get back in the theatre and feel that energy between the cast and the audience.”

It’s been a year full of pushing limits, and that’s what will be portrayed Friday through Sunday, March 26-28, at the “Beyond Limits” Spring Faculty Dance Concert. The performance will showcase seven live pieces and five films and can be viewed via livestream. “With all of the challenges that this pandemic has thrown at our students and everyone in this world, this show is really about finding ways to transcend the limits and finding ways to move forward and grow despite all of these limitations that we’ve had,” Dance Director Bekki Price said.

It’s time for students’ choreography to shine. The Spring Student Spotlight Concert debuted Monday night on the Quad and will be performed again at 7:30 Tuesday night. The concert showcases 15 student pieces, some in person and some on film. “The Student Spotlight is always one of my favorite concerts at GCU because it really shows the diversity of our student choreographers,” Dance Director Bekki Price said. “I think one of the exciting things is just having the opportunity to be outside and see art when so much of the world’s art has been shut down and there aren’t a lot of live performances happening.”