As the calendar stubbornly churns from winter to spring, the snow melts and the sun returns, students in NC State’s Panoramic Dance Project are once again hard at work preparing for a full slate of spring performances. 

Foremost among these will be the company’s annual spring concert, set for March 27 in Stewart Theatre.

This year’s concert, titled An Unfinished Freedom, will again feature a blending of dance styles and mediums, with a piece set to a poem by North Carolina Poet Laureate Jaki Shelton Green, stage material designed by award-winning artist Maya Freelon, music and choreography from Cuban composer Vladimir Espinosa, a piece from Christopher Huggins of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Academy, choreography from Megan Moss and a performance from local break-dance artist Brandon McCrimmon. 

“In many university programs, students have the opportunity to work with accomplished artists, but rarely to perform alongside them,” said Christa Oliver, an associate teaching professor in the Department of Performing Arts and Technology and Panoramic Dance Project’s director. “Performing with internationally recognized artists provides an especially valuable experience for students.”

A High-Impact Experience

Recently, Panoramic Dance Project received an affirmation of something its faculty and students have already known for years – that it is providing a High-Impact Experience for students. 

These experiences are defined as “structured educational activities that significantly enhance learning, promote personal growth and develop career-relevant skills.” As the first certified High-Impact Experience (HIE) within the Department of Performing Arts and Technology, Panoramic Dance Project received a $5,000 HIE grant this year. 

“We were already engaged in a significant amount of HIE work,” Oliver said. “Now, we are building on that foundation and expanding our efforts. It is important for people to be aware of this, and it is gratifying to receive recognition at this level for work we have been doing for many years.”

For students who came into college hoping to keep a passion for dance as part of their lives, opportunities such as Panoramic Dance Project allow them to do so alongside NC State’s dance minor program. 

“I’ve danced my whole life,” said Ava Clymer, a second-year student studying marine science. “I knew I wanted to dance in college. I was exploring all of the different dance opportunities at NC State, and when I came across Panoramic, I knew that was what I wanted to do. I liked how professional Christa is. I loved the opportunities that she gave us. We just get to work with so many different people and learn so much more, so I just thought that was the best fit for me.” 

Learning from a Variety of Artists and Styles

Throughout each school year, Oliver strives to leverage her connections throughout the industry to provide students with exposure to as many different dance styles and artists as possible. 

For instance, last year’s concert featured modern, tap, jazz, hip-hop, African and Latin dance styles. 

“I think it offers me a broader perspective about dance and the types of dance that exist,” said Josh Dodoo, a third-year student studying applied math. “It really opened my eyes up to concert dance, and a lot of studio styles which I hadn’t been trained in before.” 

The students also have enjoyed getting to work with various professional artists, composers, musicians and dancers from around the country. 

In addition to the aforementioned star-studded partnership for the 2026 concert, the 2025 concert featured collaborations with Gabriel “B-boy Wicket” Jaochico, who has many years of experience as a hip-hop performer, currently teaches at Texas State and recently served as an advisor to the United States Olympic breakers, Flamenco Vivo dance instructor Patricia Muñiz, tap dancer Matthew Shields and artistic director Zach Law Ingram.

“I just think it’s a great educational experience all around.” 

“It’s been so cool,” Clymer said. “Christa has so many great connections in the industry, so when she brings people in, I’m kind of starstruck. It’s so cool to learn from them. I really do learn so much, because we’re trying dance styles that I’ve never done before, and we’re learning about the cultures behind them and the experiences of the people who have danced them. So I just think it’s a great educational experience all around.” 

Many of the students spoke specifically of how much they enjoyed learning from Jaochico while he was at NC State last school year, and hearing about his experiences around the dance industry. 

“Hip-hop is my favorite style of dance,” Dodoo said. “He had a role with the Olympics when they first brought breaking to the Olympics. That’s something that I was following very closely, because it’s a culture that I love to watch and be part of, so seeing it on such a big stage was very cool. Being able to work with Wicket and ask him questions about his journey was very important to me. Street dance is what I first fell in love with. So being able to make that connection with him was very cool.”

Exploring Deep Themes Through Different Mediums

In each of the past two years, Oliver and her students have had the opportunity to work with North Carolina Poet Laureate Jaki Shelton Green. 

Last year’s concert featured a piece set to her poem Oh my Brother, which Green wrote in response to police killings of people of color in the United States. This year, the concert will feature a piece that Oliver created to pair with what Green called her most significant body of work, I Want to Undie You. 

Green wrote this poem in 2017 about the passing of her daughter, Imani, after a difficult bout with cancer in 2009. Through the poem, Green shared her grief, and a message she hoped would resonate with every parent, but also her admiration of her daughter’s strength and courage. 

“The work I make should be accessible to everyone.”

“This poem just came out of my spirit,” Green said. “It showed up every morning at about 4 in the morning, and I would just write. That was the only time that the words came to me. Grief does not have any boundaries, and grief is something that all humanity experiences. I’ve always said that as a writer, as a creative maker, that the work I make should be accessible to everyone. That’s what I strive for. If I write a poem and only one group of people in the room understands it, then I feel like I’ve failed. “I’m always asking my students, what is the human link that, even if the person does not speak your language, that when you speak the words, they feel the words in their soul?”

The theme of the shared experience of grief will be a central message in this year’s concert. Maya Freelon’s stage piece centers around the idea of remembering ancestors and loss, and how to find the courage to create again after going through a loss. 

Freelon connects with Green’s message, as she lost an infant child after two days.

“We found some common ground there as artists about how you find that space and courage to create again when you experience a devastating loss,” Freelon said. “Christa is the glue between these two artists who took different approaches to that. So it’s cool to see that take a new form and light onto the stage. I also think that sharing loss is something that is experienced in all human spaces. We don’t talk about grief and loss often, so it can feel isolating and scary to broach the subject, so I’m glad and happy to be somebody who is bringing it to the forefront and talking about it creatively with permission for others to follow suit.” 

Freelon, who will also serve as the artist in residency at the Gregg Museum of Art & Design in the 2026-27 school year, has a long list of connections to NC State. 

“They’re run by a really great group of people who express all of the ways that NC State is creative.”

Her father, Phil Freelon, the architect of record for the National Museum of African-American History and Culture in Washington, is an NC State alum, and Maya previously taught in the College of Design. 

“The Arts NC State group is something that I was affiliated with when I was at NC State as faculty in the design department, and they’re run by a really great group of people who express all of the ways that NC State is creative,” Maya Freelon said. “I love how they intertwine everyone together and how they tell the history and legacy of NC State alumni and folks who have been part of the community for a really long time.” 

Green has also participated in numerous collaborations with Arts NC State over the past year. Her work is featured in the WORDS=POWER collaboration between the Crafts Center and Gregg Museum of Art & Design, and she will give an artist talk at the Gregg on Feb. 19. 

“It’s been very, very special,” Green said. “I love how Christa has been very respectful of the work. She’s always checking in if there are questions and how they’re working it. I’m not micromanaging the process or telling them what they can’t do, but they’re including me as an artistic source because I wrote it, to make sure that they are representing the poem in the fairest and most authentic way. They are a joy to work with. I’m also honored to see them do work that’s not easy. It really touches me to know that they as artists and as creative makers themselves have not limited themselves to only easy lifting of materials, so for that I am grateful. I think it’s very instructive to them when they think about how we all cross borders in our art forms. Seeing college students do that is pretty magnificent.” 

“They are a joy to work with.”

For Oliver and the students, working with Green allows them to engage with deep, difficult subjects and how they can convey those messages through dance, and also to learn from an artist with decades of experience in creating and sharing messages through art. 

“Jaki and I have developed a close relationship through our work together,” Oliver said. “She is a highly respected mentor, and I look to her for guidance and insight in many areas. She has lived through a wide range of experiences and possesses profound wisdom. It is both an honor and a privilege to engage with her in meaningful conversations. Our relationship has helped me grow personally and professionally as a Black woman, as a mother, and as an educator. Observing how she approaches life and navigates challenges has informed the way I approach similar situations. Collaborating with her, and having my students collaborate with her, is truly an honor and a remarkable experience.”

Spreading Influence

In addition to the annual spring concerts, Panoramic Dance Project has had the chance to demonstrate Oliver and the dancers’ abilities across North Carolina over the past year. 

Last October, the company performed in the North Carolina Museum of Art’s Still Moving series, and also at the North Carolina Dance Festival in Greensboro in November. 

“It’s definitely a new experience for me as well, especially doing the site specific one at the museum,” Dodoo said. “I don’t think I had ever seen a dance show in that kind of space before, so being able to be part of the production was really cool and eye opening.”

This semester, the company will return to the North Carolina Museum of Art for a Black History Month performance on Feb. 21 and a college night on April 10, and also for the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences’ Arts in Bloom series on March 7. 

“Panoramic’s performance engagements, both on and off campus, bring valuable attention to NC State’s dance minor and increase visibility for the Department of Performing Arts and Technology,” Oliver said. “Many high school students are not aware that NC State offers a dance minor, so this helps show them what we have to offer. Seeing how our work engages students of all ages, as well as members of the wider community who attend our events, is very meaningful to me as both a teacher and an artist. I know it is equally meaningful for our students, who dedicate a lot of time and effort in the studio. Giving them multiple opportunities to perform throughout the semester brings them joy and allows them to share their talent, skill and creativity with audiences across North Carolina and beyond.”

As high school students considering NC State that wish to continue dancing in college see these performances and learn about the opportunities presented by Panoramic Dance Project, the company’s current students all shared a similar message: join up, and be ready to learn. 

“I would tell them to come in with a very open mind,” said Cailyn McAllister, a third-year student studying elementary education with a minor in dance performance and choreography. “One of the big strengths of Panoramic is all of the different styles that we do. So I think it’s cool that everyone comes in with different strengths and talents, but to really thrive in the company, it’s important to be open-minded and well-rounded. I would also say that it does take a level of commitment, so you have to be willing to make that time. It is ultimately a pre-professional company, so we are treated as if we were to go and dance professionally, so coming to rehearsals prepared and putting in the work behind the scenes is important as well.”