Fourteen of Kent State’s best dancers will show off their skills this weekend through the Kent Dance Ensemble’s annual main stage concert, BREAKOUT!

The ensemble will perform Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. at E. Turner Stump Theatre in the Music and Speech building.

“The Kent Dance Ensemble is the student performing dance company in the school of Theater and Dance,” said Kim Karpanty, associate dance professor and artistic director for the performance. “It’s a pre-professional group.”

The ensemble is performing a total of six dances, said Karpanty.

“This year there are two faculty pieces, one by myself and one by Erin LaSala and four guest artist pieces,” Karpanty said. “One’s from Oregon, one’s from NYC, an alumna from Cleveland and one from Virginia.”

Karpanty said the show offers the audience a wide variety of entertainment.

“There are different kinds of music and styles of dancing,” Karpanty said. “Some are funny, there’s introspective pieces and there’s really athletic pieces.”

As the artistic director, Karpanty has pushed the dancers and provoked them to break out of their shells and what they’re comfortable with.

“Basically it’s about giving the students these opportunities, and they’ve all risen to the challenge,” Karpanty said. “They’ve all assimilated to the different styles. I pushed them this year because most of them are upperclassmen.”

Tickets are available at the School of Theatre and Dance box office, by phone at 330-672-2497 and online. General admission is $16, $12 for seniors, faculty and alumni, and $8 for students.

Contact Megan Confer at [email protected].