For more than 15 years, Wichita State has hosted the Kansas Dance Festival, an event that brings in dancers and choreographers from all over.

The Kansas Dance Festival, taking place Friday and Saturday evenings, will feature a number of performances by dance students created by guest choreographers and WSU faculty.

“Those of us on the faculty try to create one piece per year to showcase our students’ strengths,” dance teacher and choreographer Sabrina Vasquez said.

Her piece, “On the Edge,” is for eight women to perform together. 

“I wanted to explore the stronger side of the female spirit,” Vasquez said. “I was looking for ways to choreographically be on the edge, literally. It’s about kicking butt.”

Though her piece has dancers in a range of class, from sophomore to senior, Vasquez said that seniors and juniors make up most of the performances. With each piece requiring rehearsing one to one and a half hours twice a week, some students are rehearsing for two to three hours a day, five days a week. 

Kelsey Stoecklein, a freshman dance major, is an understudy for several pieces and is also helping with the backstage work during the performances.

“I went to rehearsals and learned the dances that I was cast in,” she said about being an understudy. “Then we were told to watch certain people and sometimes they would have the understudies to the piece so everyone would be ready to go on.”

The dedication of the students and how hard they work is a highlight for Vasquez. She also has seen the amount of talent in the school grow over the years.

“It’s such a beautiful process to see the progress they make,” she said. “As we have grown as a school, the level of the dancers has been getting better and better.”

A variety of dancers and dance styles will be performed during the festival. There are pieces ranging from ballet to modern to jazz. One piece that Stoecklein anxiously anticipates is “Journey Down a Path.” 

“It’s a very sentimental piece to the choreographer that’s about 14-15 minutes long,” she said. “It’s very intense and will probably shock the audience and be memorable.”

The Kansas Dance Festival takes place at 7:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday at the Miller Concert Hall in Duerkson Fine Arts Center. Tickets are $10; $8 WSU faculty/staff, senior citizens, military and $6 for students. Tickets can be purchased at the door or through the Fine Arts Box Office at (316) 978-3233.