Performing Arts

World of Dance: Zodiaque Dance Company

By OBA AWOLOWO | Nov. 5

Zodiaque Dance Company (ZDC) kicked off its 51st season with their Fall Concert this past weekend at UB Center for Arts in the Drama Theatre.

Review: A frightening, yet impressive, production of ‘Ernest and the Pale Moon’

By BOB SECK | Feb. 18

UB's Emerging Choreographer Showcase took place over the weekend. | Courtesy of Ken Smith.

The joyful unseriousness of Emerging Choreographers Showcase

By ALEX NOVAK | Nov. 15, 2023

UB’s ‘Renascence’ brings poet Edna St. Vincent Millay back to life through song, dance and emotionally intense performances.

Representation in ‘Renascence’

By ALEX NOVAK | Nov. 1, 2023

Zodiaque dance company | courtesy of Ken Smith

‘Versatility matters’ to Zodiaque dance company

By ALEX NOVAK | Oct. 25, 2023

More Performing Arts

Brandan Booker and Alissa di Cristo played the only two roles in the student-directed play "Gruesome Playground Injuries."

ARTS

CONTENT WARNING: Gruesome!

By MYLIEN LAI and ALEX NOVAK | Sep. 27, 2023

“Gruesome Playground Injuries” had its characters — and the audience — in stitches this past weekend at the Katharine Cornell Theater. Part of UB’s student-directed series of plays, the two-actor show follows three decades of Kayleen (Alissa di Cristo) and Doug’s (Brandan Booker) lives.

Actors rehearse for the debut of Gruesome Playground Injuries, a fully student-directed play.

ARTS

‘Gruesome Playground Injuries’ promises to make you laugh and cry

By ALEX NOVAK | Sep. 20, 2023

Gruesome Playground Injuries, a play showing Sept. 22 and 23 at 7:30 p.m. in the Katharine Cornell Theater, follows Kayleen (played by Alissa Di Cristo) and Doug (Brandan Booker) as they navigate life over the course of 30 years. Their collective journey, however, is anything but typical.

Leale, a Buffalo-based rapper, performed a 15-minute set for a packed CFA Mainstage Theater.

ARTS

Spitting bars while studying: UB student pursues rap career

By ALEX NOVAK | May 3, 2023

Leale didn’t begin rapping with the intention of selling out stadiums, or getting big record deals, or getting millions of downloads.

UB began its production of “Cinderella” at the CFA last weekend.

ARTS

‘Cinderella’ conjures magic on stage

By JULES EVANS and ALEX NOVAK | May 3, 2023

UB’s production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Cinderella” created on-stage magic, no fairy godmothers necessary.

Dancers practice choreographed pieces as a part of Dancer’s Workshop.

ARTS

Creative control and inclusivity take the stage at the Dancer’s Workshop

By AMY MASLIN and MERET KELSEY | May 3, 2023

Dancer’s Workshop isn’t your average department-run performance. This one’s all about the students.

ARTS

‘Performance art can be a hard sell’

By JULIA MARCOTULLIO and ALEX NOVAK | Apr. 12, 2023

This past Thursday, Bridget Moser’s “When I Am Through With You There Won’t Be Anything Left” was not a series of paintings, a dance or a play. It was something else entirely, something unfiltered, raw and unabashedly original.

UB Theatre and Dance students perform in this year's Choreolab.

ARTS

Deeply personal or ridiculously comedic, Choreolab 2023 has it all

By ALEX NOVAK | Apr. 5, 2023

The show’s diverse numbers saw dancers moving to loon sounds, hip hop and Bollywood-style choreography.

Senior theatre performance major Moriah Armstrong played Eurydice in UB’s production of the play.

ARTS

UB’s ‘Eurydice’ breathed new life into theatre… and the dead

By ALEX NOVAK | Mar. 15, 2023

Lights in the Black Box Theater dimmed before whirring back to life on a vibrant beach scene, plunging theatergoers into a haze of nostalgia.

The Sunday show’s sendoff was especially important for the seniors in the group, affectionately referred to as “Zeniors.”

ARTS

‘Dreams can come true’: Zodiaque’s seniors bid company adieu

By MERET KELSEY and ALEX NOVAK | Mar. 8, 2023

The Sunday show’s sendoff was especially important for the seniors in the group, affectionately referred to as “Zeniors,” as each took their final bow with Zodiaque.

The Filipino-American Student Association took home three trophies at this year's International Fiesta, including first place.

ARTS

‘It felt like a dream’: Students tell cultural stories through dance at 2023 International Fiesta

By JULIA MARCOTULLIO , ALISHA ALLISON and ALEX OLEN | Mar. 2, 2023

International Fiesta, UB’s annual dance competition showcasing international clubs and organizations on campus, took place Saturday in the CFA Mainstage Theatre.

Dancers from the Asian American Student Union practice their high-energy performance in the Natural Sciences Complex.

ARTS

Practice before the party: UB dance groups ahead of International Fiesta

By MERET KELSEY and ALEX NOVAK | Feb. 22, 2023

UB’s international clubs and cultural organizations will take the stage this Saturday for International Fiesta, an annual dance competition held at the Center for the Arts.

The Buffalo Chips singing at their sound check before their 28th anniversary concert.

ARTS

28 years of brotherhood, sweethearts and a capella

By ALEX NOVAK | Feb. 22, 2023

This past Friday, the Chips commemorated the a cappella group’s 28th anniversary with a Valentine’s Day concert filled to the brim with swoon-worthy ballads, upbeat anthems and a healthy dose of humor.

Student-members of Dreams Affirmed pose for a photo with Broadway actress Karen Burthwright (center).

ARTS

Broadway actress Karen Burthwright wants UB’s actors of color to eclipse her success

By ALEX NOVAK | Dec. 9, 2022

UB’s Dreams Affirmed club sold Karen Burthwright with just five words: “Black musical theatre student group.”

"Noises Off" tells the story of Lloyd, a frustrated and obnoxious director, as he attempts to reel in the inept cast of another play, "Nothing On."

ARTS

The seamless chaos of ‘Noises Off’

By JULES EVANS and ALEX NOVAK | Nov. 22, 2022

Three of the play’s five showtimes were canceled due to last weekend's snowstorm, but the cast rebounded for a stellar final showing.