Some fifty dancers will perform eighteen dances in a variety of styles, including modern, hip-hop, jazz, flamenco, and more, in three concerts this weekend presented by the NMSU Dance Program. “We have something for everyone,” said Ryan McMullen in this interview with KRWG’s Intermezzo host Leora Zeitlin about the concerts. “Desert Bloom: A Celebration of Dance” is a collaboration between the campus dance program, and several choreographers and musicians from the US and Chihuahua, as well as the NMSU Ballet Folklorico group and dancers from El Paso Community College.
Ryan McMullen, who joined the NMSU faculty in the summer of 2023, started dancing as a child and was participating in hip-hop competitions soon after. He came to NMSU almost two years ago to build what he calls “a small but mighty” dance program.
The concerts include new and older works choreographed by NMSU faculty members Ana Suffle and Applehelen Kirby, as well as McMullen, and Chihuahuan guest choreographer Abraham Quintero. One work, “Innerbloom,” was developed by McMullen and his current students, based on a previous work he developed in 2023 with composer Andy Hasenpflug and video projection artist Jennifer Petuch. Petuch has provided new projections for this weekend’s version of the dance. Music by Lindsey Stirling, Vicente Amigo, and others will also be featured in the concert. In this interview, McMullen describes several of the dances to be performed, how they were developed, the music that will be used, and his own background as a dancer.
The dance performances are Thursday, May 1, Friday, May 2, and Saturday, May 3 at 7 p.m. each night at the ASNMSU Center for the Arts.
