In ‘Sapphire,’ eXpressions brings fresh perspectives to a familiar soundtrack

As I walked into Theatre Intime, it was silent, buzzing with anticipation. Dance bags and shoes littered the floor, while the sound and light crew shuffled around quietly in their overhead office at the back of the theater. I was there to watch a dress rehearsal for eXpressions’ 45th anniversary show, ”Sapphire.”

The lights dimmed, and the dress run began. As the show opened with a piece featuring all company members and set to “Brother” by Matt Corby, the dancers first came out in small groups, allowing the audience to gain a taste of each individual’s strengths. In the music’s last measures, everyone in the company came onstage to dance and close the piece out — a stunning demonstration of their ability to perform as one large group. The company piece served as a well-designed teaser of the company’s proficiency for individual talent and group performance, leaving me eager for what was to come.

The second piece, “As Then, So Now,” came in with the strong opening drums of Hozier’s “Empire Now.” The choreography, by Maddie Rohde ’27, was heart-pounding and raw, filled with jerky movements and sharp lines to complement Hozier’s rasp. The movements felt primal and, paired with the dancers’ yearning expressions, they drew me in until I was fully immersed, leaving me breathless and awestruck.

Next, “Play the F’ing Beat,” choreographed by Kate Stewart ’25, entered in sharp and hot. Set to a medley including Chappell Roan, Camila Cabello, and Playboi Carti, dancers in short, hot pink fringe dresses started off sassy and lively, then quickly evolved to hip hop-like movements to match the music’s switch to funkier rap beats. While most of the other pieces in “Sapphire” toed the line between contemporary and lyrical, “Play the F’ing Beat” took on notes of jazz-funk, showing off the company’s range of dance genres.

While I was impressed by all the pieces, my favorite pieces by far were Sarah Joo GS’s “Sometimes I Can’t Breathe” to “Funeral” by Phoebe Bridgers and “Just Take My Hand,” set to Noah Kahan’s “Orange Juice.” I quite literally couldn’t look away from the mesmerizing synthesis of Joo’s choreography, the music choice, and the dancing itself. It was something of a hypnosis, making me feel emotionally invested in a story presented with no dialogue nor plot: only body movement. In “Sometimes I Can’t Breathe,” Joo’s choreography was slow and drawn out, the grief of the song evident through the dancers’ movements.

As the song faded, a few dancers stayed on stage, sitting with their heads down, as others draped white button-downs over their shoulders. Noah Kahan’s voice came crawling in, and thus began “Just Take My Hand.” While “Sometimes I Can’t Breathe” made me feel, just as Bridgers says in the song, like I was “underwater and [couldn’t] breathe,” “Just Take My Hand” felt like an emergence into hope. The dancers had soft, longing expressions as their movements reached out and upwards. Ending with a dramatic, tight hug between two dancers, the scene brought a sharp pang of relief and hope into my heart.

When I went backstage and spoke to members of the company, I found that love for their fellow company members was an astoundingly consistent reason why they enjoyed their experience in the group. The bright smiles and peals of laughter made me feel like I was entering a high school sleepover held among best friends, the only difference being that everyone was wearing dance costumes instead of PJs.

Stewart, eXpressions’s vivacious and affable publicity chair, has been in the company for her entire time at Princeton. When asked what her favorite part of the group is, she said “every single eXpressions member ever will say the community, but I’m also going to say the community,” adding with a laugh, “but I coined it first.”

Even among newer company members, such as Eva Collister ’28 and Sophie Lee ’28, both confirmed that their favorite part of eXpressions was the supportive community. According to Collister, “even starting from auditions, everyone is hyping you up the second you walk into the room, and in company, people always have nice things to say.”

Throughout the show, it was intoxicating how each dance could weave together simple movements and inspire such strong emotion, breathing new meaning and new stories into familiar songs. Across all the dance pieces, I was struck by how much each piece felt like a story.

Audrey Zeng is a contributing writer for The Prospect. She can be reached at audrey.zeng@princeton.edu.