KENNESAW, Ga. | Aug 4, 2026

The Robert S. Geer Family College of the Arts at Kennesaw State University will launch its 2026–27 MainStage season with Double Exposure, an evening of two world premiere contemporary dance works created exclusively for the KSU Dance Company by internationally acclaimed choreographers Gabrielle Lamb and Phoebe Jewitt.

Presented through the Department of Dance's signature KSU Choreographic Residency, Double Exposure offers audiences a rare opportunity to experience two original works making their debut on stage — each created over an intensive four-week summer residency that immerses students in the professional creative process.

Made possible by the Eleo Pomare–Glenn Conner Dance Endowment, the residency invites nationally emerging and mid-career choreographers to campus each summer to develop new work alongside KSU's student dancers. More than a rehearsal process, the residency recreates the rhythm and rigor of a professional dance company, allowing students to spend three weeks creating in the studio followed by a dedicated week of technical rehearsals in the theater before the works premiere.

"This residency gives students an authentic glimpse into the life of a professional dance company," said Gabrielle Lamb, a Georgia native whose New York-based company has performed internationally. "Instead of balancing rehearsals around classes, they're able to devote themselves fully to the creative process. They experience what it means to build a work from the ground up alongside a choreographer."

Lamb's new 24-minute work draws inspiration from the natural world, tracing the movement of wind, from subtle ripples across water to the force of an approaching storm. While rooted in her distinctive contemporary movement language, the choreography was shaped collaboratively with the student dancers, whose ideas and movement discoveries became part of the creative process.

"I wanted audiences to leave feeling a sense of freshness, color and intensity," Lamb said. "Watching these dancers should inspire your own desire to move."

For British-Swiss choreographer Phoebe Jewitt, Double Exposure marks both her first creative residency in the United States and her first opportunity to create work with American university dancers. Her premiere explores identity as something fluid rather than fixed, examining how people evolve throughout their lives and continually redefine themselves through relationships and experience. The work features an original score composed specifically for the production by Paris-based composer Minouche Briot.

"I hope audiences connect with it on a human level," Jewitt said. "Dance doesn't tell people exactly what to think. Everyone brings their own experiences into the theater, and each person is free to discover something different in the work."

Jewitt praised the KSU dancers for their artistic maturity and collaborative spirit, noting that they quickly developed the trust necessary to build an emotionally demanding work together.

The residency itself is a distinguishing feature of KSU's Department of Dance. Unlike many collegiate guest artist residencies that last only a week or two, the extended four-week format gives choreographers the time to develop larger, more ambitious works while providing students with sustained mentorship from established professionals. Lamb noted that the residency's dedicated theater time and access to professional lighting design are exceptional opportunities that many independent choreographers rarely experience.

The KSU Choreographic Residency is funded through the Eleo Pomare–Glenn Conner Dance Endowment, established through the generosity of Jay Yunek, trustee of the Glenn E. Conner Revocable Trust, in honor of his late uncle, Glenn Conner, and his partner, pioneering choreographer Eleo Pomare. Widely recognized for his artistic innovation and fearless exploration of social inequality and justice, Pomare transformed contemporary dance through work that challenged audiences while expanding the possibilities of movement as artistic expression.

By bringing visionary choreographers to KSU each summer, the endowment continues Pomare's legacy of innovation while giving student artists extraordinary access to professional creative practice.

When the curtain rises on Double Exposure, audiences won't simply witness two world premieres; they'll experience the culmination of a month-long artistic collaboration where professional choreographers and emerging artists discovered new movement, new perspectives and new possibilities together.

Double Exposure is performed at the KSU Dance Theater on the Marietta Campus, August 28 and 29 at 8 p.m. Tickets are available now. 

 

The ArtsKSU Season is presented with generous support from Dr. Jerry and Linda Richman.

Double Exposure rehearsal photography by Livia Stetson.