By Mary Mone
Online and Copy Editor
Photo by Cassidy Winborn
The Chi Tau Epsilon Honor Society has kick-started back into performing this spring semester, finding creative ways to share their love for dance.
XTE is a national Honor Society that was created on the Texas Christian University campus to develop dance talent and to honor students in the field of dance. They offer opportunities for close communication and creative exchange between dance students, as well as providing scholarships through their department.
Kristi Franks, professor of dance at TJC since 2016 and adviser of XTE since 2019, was president of XTE at Texas Tech University.
“We brought it to TJC and started the Rho Chapter in the fall of 2019 after we saw a need within the dance department for more performance and choreography opportunities,” Franks said.
Though COVID-19, “wiped out all of our performance opportunities last spring,” Franks said, during the fall the students got creative and produced a dance made for film. This spring semester the honor society continues to work on choreography and dances to be produced through the department’s annual student dance. Instead of large productions, XTE is working on smaller group dances that will include tap and hip-hop.
XTE students who are “self-motivated and very capable of creating wonderful pieces of art,” Franks said, are excited to perform in the new space at the Rogers Palmer Performing Arts Center. The students will be able to hold the annual student dance performance in the center, but will have limited capacity in accordance with campus policy.
Franks commented on the great opportunity dancers have with their program, being able “to practice their craft and perform any genre of dance for which they feel passionate.”
