USJ's Annual '5X5 Dance Festival' To Get Hearts Racing This Weekend

University of Saint Joseph

WEST HARTFORD, CT — A local university in West Hartford is hosting a very unique event this Saturday that will get toes tapping and the blood pumping.

Choreographers, performers, educators, and students will come together to celebrate the multifaceted art of dance at the University of Saint Joseph’s 24th annual "5x5 Dance Festival" on Saturday, Nov. 8, at 7 p.m.

It will take place at the Hoffman Auditorium at the Bruyette Athenaeum, which is located at the 1678 Asylum Ave. campus.

Artists, students, and audiences will share their experience, talent, and inspiration through master classes, workshops, discussions, and performances.

Post-show, guests will be able to meet the artists, and a question-and-answer session will immediately follow the performance.

The 5x5 Dance Festival was named for its focus on five professional and five collegiate ensembles.

Created in 2003 to give greater Hartford dancers the opportunity to perform more sustained works, the 5x5 Dance Festival features works from company repertoires, works in progress, or works prepared exclusively for this showcase.

“The 5x5 Dance Festival has become a tradition for Connecticut contemporary dance, inspiring the next generation of dancers with Connecticut's abundantly gifted dance artists,” says 5x5 Founder and artistic director Susan Murphy.

“The 5x5 festival is an incredible annual opportunity for Connecticut artists to come together and celebrate all of the amazing work that is happening in our community,” said Garet Wierdsma, director of Garet&Co. “Garet&Co has had the honor of performing at the festival for the past three years, and we could not be more thrilled to be back again this year.”

The 5x5 Dance Festival also includes dance films, photographic displays, site-specific performances, master classes throughout the day, an evening performance, and a preshow wine reception.

All details can be found on www.usj.edu/arts, and tickets can be purchased at: https://www.usj.edu/about/arts/hoffman-auditorium.