Hixon Dance to explore space in science-inspired 'Frontiers' production
- Hixon Dance
- Mar 20
- 3 min read
Belinda M. Paschal, Columbus Dispatch Published: March 20, 2025
On the surface, science and the arts appear to be diametrically opposed disciplines relying on different hemispheres of the brain. However, Hixon Dance’s new production meets where the two intersect.
In “Frontiers,” the company offers two works: One takes a holistic approach to dance as a physical, intellectual, spiritual and emotional pursuit, and the other examines the concept of transformation through the lens of astrophysics.
Performances will be at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 3 p.m. Sunday at Columbus Dance Theatre, 592 E. Main St.
Audiences will have the chance to ask questions and learn more about the artists' creative processes during talkbacks after each show.
General-admission tickets are $25, senior tickets are $20 and student tickets are $15, available online in advance at hixondance.com/frontiers or at the door.
The first performance of the evening will be “Biorhythmic Polychrome,” a commissioned work by Alicia Hann, a six-season dancer with Hixon and the company’s rehearsal director.
A physical piece that explores spectrum through a colorful kaleidoscope of movement, Hann’s work shows the interplay between individuality and group connection. Musical selections by Ben Shaheen on marimba and Erin Hegelson Torres on flute will set the mood onstage.
“(Hann’s) exploration of spectrum could be color; it could be nature. The whole thing has a very organic growth to it,” said artistic director Sarah Hixon.
Hixon, who’s also a choreographer, performer and dance educator, said Hann is the first choreographer other than herself who has been commissioned to create a work for the company.
“I felt like she would do some exciting things,” Hixon said, adding that it was important to Hann that “Biorhythmic Polychrome” complement the show’s second piece.
“Entangled,” the second work, grew out of a conversation between Hixon and her astrophysicist friend Greg Mack.
“He came to me with a bunch of ideas about science concepts that he thought would make interesting dances. He’s very interested in dance and how it can intersect with science,” Hixon said.
Mack’s ideas resonated with Hixon, who was reminded of her childhood as the daughter of an aerospace engineer. Learning about space through her father’s work filled her with a lasting “wonder and awe” for space and humans’ place in the universe.
Inspired by the predicted collision of the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies in 4.5 billion years, “Entangled” uses science to shine a light on humans’ complex relationship with transformation.
“I thought, ‘What is the main gist of that story?’ It’s a collision, but it’s actually a transformation,” said Hixon, who choreographed and directed the piece.
“That made me think about things on a different scale: What does transformation look like on smaller scales — from galaxy to planet to us as individuals?”
To answer that question, the piece explores three distinct narratives — one on a galactic scale, one on a global scale and one on an intimate scale — using not just dance, but words and music.
“Entangled” features commissioned writings by Mack and playwrights Mackenzie Worrall and Chris Leyva, with additional writings by Noam Chomsky and Carl Sagan incorporated into the work.
“(Mack) wrote a text behind the concept of the galaxies colliding. As you’re hearing the text, you see these relationships you might not realize were there, through these three seemingly unrelated stories,” Hixon said.
Additionally, the commissioned sound score by Jacob Reed includes selections from the Voyager Golden Record.
The Voyager Golden Record was attached to each of the Voyager spacecrafts launched in 1977. The disc contains images, music, sounds and spoken greetings in 50-plus languages, intended to inform extraterrestrials about Earth and its inhabitants.
The various elements of “Entangled” meld to convey man’s inhumanity to man and conversely, the hope that people remember to look beyond themselves to save humanity.
“There’s a lot of actual storytelling, which is great for the audience, because dance can be very abstract,” Hixon said.
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