The Department of Theatre and Dance will present Rules of Play, the spring 2025 dance concert, May 15, 16, 22 and 23 at 7 p.m. and May 17and 24 at 2 p.m. in the Main Theatre, Wright Hall. 

Featuring over 30 dancers, the program is curated by Doria E. Charlson, visiting professor of theatre and dance, and showcases new works developed and performed by undergraduate students. 

The “rules of play” outline how, and in what ways, people engage with the structures and systems around us. At their best, rules provide a clear framework that equalizes the playing field through transparency and enough structure such that all players have the potential to win. Rules can effectively create order and calm, such that it is clear to all players what to expect. Too often, though, is it unclear how the game is played. Unspoken rules, conventions, biases, and forms of gatekeeping prevent and obstruct success for so many people. 

Rules of Play aims to explore how, and in what ways, people navigate through the game of life. Through dance and movement, collaborators are encouraged to creatively explore the systems around them and present work that helps audiences reflect upon what rules are of benefit to society and which may need to be revised or upended.

Charlson’s research and scholarship is deeply informed by her decades of praxis as a dancer. She has trained with ODC/Dance, Mark Morris Dance Group, the Alvin Ailey School, the Joffrey Ballet School, L’école Superieuse de Danse Rosella Hightower, and at Stanford University (Diane Frank, Robert Moses, and Aleta Hayes). Her writing and scholarship can be found in TDR: The Drama Review, Women & Performance, and Dance Research Journal, as well as in African American Arts: Activism, Aesthetics, and Futurity (Rutgers UP 2019).

Tickets go on sale in spring quarter.

The Department of Theatre and Dance is part of the UC Davis College of Letters and Science. For information about other department productions, visit theatredance.ucdavis.edu.