Speaking with Amy Elizabeth, Associate Professor of Dance at Lamar University, it occurred to me that I’ve been writing about her work since 2012. At the time she was presenting her own choreography in the Houston area under the banner of Rednerrus Feil. Thirteen years later, Elizabeth has returned to her native Southeast Texas with a commitment to expand the breadth and understanding of contemporary dance in the area through Aimed Dance Summer Fest.
The festival did not originally start with such an ambitious scope, but evolved from the needs of the host institution’s dance programming; the dancers of Aimed Dance are culled primarily from Lamar University’s dance students. “The festival started as a company residency, and the dancers learned two works each week with a concert at the end,” says Elizabeth. The following year she was approached by the university to take on their summer dance intensive. “They needed more support,” she says. “We were asked to combine the two ideas, so we had two weeks of classes with the summer intensive, and then offered a concert every weekend.”
Elizabeth’s festival offering is significant considering that it is not situated in a major urban area where dance is integrated into the arts landscape. As she notes, there is not a single professional dance company in the region, but like many areas in Texas, there is a thriving youth dance community. “We have more than thirty dance studios and a 300,000 populace,” she says. “So many of our citizens grow up dancing their entire lives. We wanted to create the opportunity to continue training, to continue learning.”
Elizabeth also wants a roster that reflects a diversity of perspectives, which is why a panel makes its decision after reviewing work descriptions and videos of the proposed pieces. For choreographers who wish to be considered to set work on the Aimed Dance Company, resumes, additional work samples, and a project prospectus are used to curate the broadest reflection of contemporary dance possible.
In five short years, Aimed Dance Summer Fest has become the region’s primary presenter of new choreography, which makes the curatorial stakes particularly high. “Here in Southeast Texas, the only contemporary dance is competition contemporary dance,” Elizabeth says. “Many people who come to the festival have never seen work like this.” Even though mature, developed works are sought after by the panel, they also make sure not to repeat themselves by choosing dances that are similar in style, genre, and vocabulary. As a result, entries on the “maybe” list are often programmed because of the value they bring to the audience’s experience.
This year’s line-up features some incredible names coming from outside the Lone Star state. Shaun Keylock, of Portland, Oregon, and a technician known for his deconstruction of classical frameworks, is a returning artist. The panel was particularly excited to see an entry from dancer/actor Rain Ross, whose work centers on human connection via a conflagration of ballet, improvisation, and theater practices. Professor of Dance at Stockton University in New Jersey, Ross will be making her Aimed Dance Summer Fest debut.
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Ball State University dancers in Actions Speak Louder by Jennifer Meckley at the Aimed Dance Summer Fest 2025. Photo by Fluid Frames Photography.
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The Cosmic Dance of Shiva, choreographed and performed by Preeti Sai Krishnamani & Kavya Mathukumalli of Silambam Houston at the Aimed Dance Summer Fest 2025. Photo by Fluid Frames Photography.
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The 2025 Aimed Dance Company in And Yet We Held, choreographed by Tiffanee Arnold at the Aimed Dance Summer Fest 2025. Photo by Fluid Frames Photography.
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Kelsi Fears, a Georgia-based artist, has been selected as an Emerging Choreographer Fellow for 2026 and will be setting a new work on the Aimed Dance Company to premiere in Festival Concert I. Photo courtesy of the artist.
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Will Brighton, a Missouri-based artist, will be presenting his work Pitchfork in Festival Concert II and has been selected as an Artist in Residence setting a new work on the Aimed Dance Company. Photo courtesy of the artist.
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Rain Ross, a Pennsylvania-based artist, will be presenting her work We Are Undone in Festival Concert II and has been selected as an Artist in Residence setting a new work on the Aimed Dance Company. Photo courtesy of the artist.
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Aimed Dance Summer Fest Founder and Director Amy Elizabeth leading company class with Krysta Quimboa and Haley Mosley. Photo by Jennifer Salter.
Also of note is the inclusion of Paige Cunningham Caldarella, Associate Professor of Dance at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and former dancer with Merce Cunningham Dance Company. Her work is centered on taking traditional techniques and using them in new ways to create dances that embody the here and now.
Speaking with Elizabeth, one comes to the realization that producing a dance festival comes from a drive to serve the field beyond a single title of artist, administrator, or curator. “This is a form of protest,” she says. “In the arts, dance is at the bottom of the totem pole. And anytime there is stress and conflict, we get buried off to the side.” As she observes, contentious times create a scarcity of resources. Funding dwindles, and without that financial support, a perceived level of importance goes with it.
For Elizabeth, Aimed Dance Summer Fest is her opportunity to show that dance is far more than a youth activity. Dance can show the multiplicity of the human experience. “The more we can show that, the more we can embody that, the more we can come together as a community and find healing in all of the chaos,” she says.
“Dance is innate in all of us. If you are a moving, breathing being, you are a dancer.”
—Adam Castañeda
