RIC Hosts 2025 ACDA New England Conference

From March 12-15, Rhode Island College will host the American College Dance Association (ACDA) New England Conference, drawing in 300 dancers from 27 colleges. This conference exposes college students and professors to the diversity of the college dance world and provides them an opportunity to network and learn from each other.

“I am thrilled to welcome our guests to a rich and diverse four days of dance,” says Conference Coordinator and Professor of Dance Angelica Cardente-Vessella.

“I think it’s more important than ever for dance programs within higher education to unite and support each other as well as our students. Often the pursuit of a career in the arts – especially dance – is misunderstood. It’s important to emphasize that dance is not just a hobby or an impractical pursuit – it is a vital part of our culture,” says Cardente-Vessella.

This conference is particularly auspicious in that it is the first ACDA conference in five years since the COVID-19 pandemic. RIC staff have been hard at work transforming spaces throughout the college for exciting activities.

The first day of the conference will include a concert by Rocha Dance Theater on Wednesday, March 12, at 7:30 p.m. Other conference activities include movement classes and workshops taught by participating faculty from the 27 colleges.

“Students from every college will have the opportunity to take classes with teachers from every college along with classes from a select group of guest artists,” explains Cardente-Vessella.

There will also be scholarly research presentations, one informal concert consisting of 14 dances still in-process and three adjudicated concerts.

Each adjudicated concert will feature 10-12 dance pieces, depicting a wide range of dance forms. A maximum of two pieces will be permitted by each participating college – one must be a student work and the other a faculty or guest artist work.

Rhode Island College dancers will present a piece choreographed by their peer Janelle Charron titled “Resonance.” Guest artist Brandi Coleman also choreographed a work for RIC dancers titled “SHAKEDOWN.”

Following each performance, a panel of adjudicators will critique the choreography. On the panel are Daniel Gwirtzman, director of the Daniel Gwirtzman Dance Company; choreographer Cameron McKinney, creator of Kizuna Dance; and educator/performer/entertainer Rosanna Tavarez.

The ACDA New England Conference will end with a Gala Concert on Saturday, March 15, at 4 p.m., consisting of approximately 12 pieces selected from the adjudicated concerts.

Three selections from the Gala Concert will be chosen to go on to perform at the ACDA National College Dance Festival, which takes place at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and George Washington University from May 2-4.

Let the show begin!

This year’s ACDA participating colleges are:

Bates College
Boston University
Bridgewater State University
Brown University
Central Connecticut State University
Clark University
Colby College
Connecticut College
Curry College
Dean College
Five College Dance
Five College Dance
Hamilton College
Hampshire College
Hofstra University
Keene State College
Middlebury college
Mount Holyoke College
Providence College
Queensborough Community College
Rhode Island College
Roger Williams University
Salem State University
Smith College
Springfield College
State University of New York, Potsdam
Stonehill College
University of Maine