Dance company choreographers to bring their cultures to the stage

"16 Shots," an Afro hip-hop dance choregraphed by Ezra Neely ('26), performed at Smith Auditorium in spring of 2025. Photo courtesy of Quinn Carbery.

On Nov. 20 and 21, Willamette Dance Company will present dances choreographed and performed by students. This event, which happens once a semester, has always been an opportunity for students to showcase their choreography and dance skills to the community. In recent years, students have increasingly infused cultural elements into performances by choreographing dances that are inspired by their homes or family history, and this semester’s event will be no exception.

One of the students who has been inspired to bring her culture to Dance Co. is club president Maggie Ramos (’26), who is choreographing a salsa-inspired piece that speaks to her Venezuelan roots, where she was born and raised.

“If you were to pull up to a specific side of town … there would be a block party, and people would just stop and dance salsa for hours. I'm trying to bring that into the stage,” Ramos said.

Her piece aims to replicate the lively energy of those parties, while also mixing the traditions and meanings of salsa.

Another student choreographer, Ezra Neely (’26), is inspired by Carnaval and Afrostep dance and wants to bring that side of her culture to campus alongside the other dances. To her, Dance Co.’s increased representation is important not just for her but also for other students. 

“[It’s] nice to have my culture represented on the stage, and for other students of color to feel like they're being represented onstage too. Even if they don't want to perform, they can just enjoy that,” Neely said.

In addition to making students feel seen and represented, Neely also said the Dance Co. can be a bridge that allows people to learn more about cultures besides their own.

“I think it's really important to make sure that a lot of different cultures are represented within Willamette because overall, there's a lack of culture that is represented on campus,” Neely said. “Specifically with mine … I try to mix and blend. I'm mixing from the Caribbean to Africa, so I'm mixing both of them together and adding hip hop because they all tie in really well. And when you see a lot of Afro stuff now, it's a lot of influences from other things, too …. It is traditional, but it's also evolving.” 

For Ramos, ensuring that the culture is accurately represented is essential, and a little bit scary. Bringing a special part of her culture to the world on a larger scale is a heavy task and not one she takes lightly.

“If you asked me in my freshman or sophomore or even my junior year, I would not have expected to bring it here or feel comfortable, just because it has played such a big part in who I am,” Ramos said. “Yes, [the dance is] gonna be fun, it's gonna be sexy, it's gonna be a little flashy and flirty, but that's not the reason I brought it. I made it because I want to represent something that I have been doing for so long, that represents who I am, and represents my people and my family.”

The event and the dances performed showcase the traditions and stories of different cultures. It gives students a chance to share their backgrounds with a wider audience and lets attendees experience a variety of personal and cultural perspectives.

“These cultures and these nationalities, they also have something to say,” Ramos said. “It might not be the Western way of showing storytelling or showing how meaning and a story is brought, but it still is a way of storytelling through dancing, and it should be respected.”