Making dances can be an unrelenting cycle of creative ideation, talent management, and administrative multitasking; finding a platform to show the work once it is complete can be just as unforgiving. Enter the multi-program dance festival, an opportunity for choreographers to present their work in a professional setting at low financial costs. The Lone Star State is home to many long-running festivals, not the least of which can be found halfway between Austin and Dallas.
For starters, Requa has positioned the festival to be its own standalone program, and it’s now produced on the campus of McClennan Community College. “It’s a beautiful proscenium stage and theater space, which helps more professional companies participate,” she says. “We can also highlight up-and-comers and give them a professional performance experience.”
This is a big step forward, especially considering Requa’s ambitions. “We are trying to create a connecting hub between Dallas, Austin, and Houston,” she says. “There’s a big stretch of Central Texas where there isn’t a lot happening. Perhaps artists want to collaborate, and they can meet up in Waco.” This year’s festival convenes artists from all over the state and beyond Jan. 9-11, 2026.
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Fatima Andere in Graciano Dance Projects production of Festivalia, choreographed by Francisco Graciano. Photo by Meagan Helman.
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Konverj/Austin dancers Łukasz Zięba and Amy Saunder in Shimmer and the Beam, choreographed by Jordan Miller. Photo by Arnaud Falchier.
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Earthen Image Movement dancers Domingo Estrada Jr. and Cole Vernon in Slack Tide, choreographed by Seth York. Photo by Anna Sneed.
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Houston Contemporary Dance Company in Citizen, choreographed by Yue Yin. Photo by Amitava Sarkar.
{254}DANCEFEST is filling a vital need, as Requa describes a dance instructor in College Station who is bringing their students to see the professional showcases. “Drill team and dance team are big there,” she says, “but not the concert dance forms.” The festival is giving these young audiences a firsthand look of the possibilities of what dance can look like.
Dance festivals also offer both emerging and established choreographers the chance to show their work to audiences beyond their respective cities. Andrew Robert Smith, adjunct faculty and recent MFA graduate of Sam Houston State University’s dance department, has been hitting the Texas festival circuit hard over the past few seasons. He’s returning to the {254}DANCEFEST this year to participate in the gala performance after having previously presented in 2024.
“For me, presenting Stirring Circles, a duet co-choreographed with Hannah Joy Mettler, offered a chance to bring our work beyond the greater Houston area and engage with a broader Texas dance community,” says Smith. “It was deeply rewarding to see how the piece resonated with new audiences and to feel part of a larger dialogue about what dance can be across our state.”
Smith’s clean, technical, and polished aesthetic is on one side of the curatorial spectrum Hannah and her committee aim for. “We try to offer a wide variety because there are so many forms of Modern and contemporary dance,” she says. “We have a gala program that has work with a lot more historical roots, including Graham, Horton, Limon, and Hawkins, and that uses those classical shapes, forms, and ideas.”
Speaking with Requa, she is all effusive and beaming energy. After relocating to Waco with her husband during the pandemic, and leaving a position as a soloist with the Corpus Christi Ballet, she sounds like an artist with a new mission. “It’s neat to be here in this way,” she says. “Dance is the only performing art that doesn’t have a professional presence here in Waco. I want Waco to be a place that welcomes dance.”
—ADAM CASTAÑEDA
