The house lights dimmed. A single dancer in a pearl-gray flapper dress stepped into a pool of amber light, and the audience at the Riverside Performing Arts Center fell silent. Then the brass track kicked in, and twelve more dancers flooded the stage in a synchronized Charleston that rattled the floorboards. After three years of scaled-back shows and masked rehearsals, the Northeastern Dance Academy was back at full volume.
"Eras," the academy's spring recital held May 17–18, was more than a comeback. It was the first fully student-produced finale in the school's twelve-year history, with seventeen-year-old senior Maya Torres choreographing the closing contemporary piece. The program traced a century of movement—from 1920s jazz to 1950s swing, 1980s breakdancing, and a final number set to music released in January.
From Research to Performance
The theme demanded homework. Dancers spent months studying archival footage, and it showed in the details.
"My solo was set in the 1940s, so I spent weeks researching swing dance footage," said Torres, who has trained at the academy since age eight. "It changed how I think about where our current styles come from. You can't do a pirouette in heels the same way you do in ballet slippers. You have to respect the physics of the era."
That respect translated into costume choices that shaped the dancing itself. The 1950s ensemble performed in full skirts that demanded wider arm carriage. The 1980s breakdancing crew wore loose tracksuits that swallowed their frames until they hit a freeze, making the stillness more dramatic. Academy director James Okonkwo, a former backup dancer for two Grammy-nominated artists, worked with students to ensure the period details served the movement rather than becoming pageantry.
Three Numbers, Three Visions
The program's structure gave each era roughly fifteen minutes, with Okonkwo assigning different instructors to different decades based on their specialties. Instructor Leah Brennan, whose background is in tap and musical theater, shaped the 1920s opener. The Charleston piece built from Torres's solo into a full-cast ensemble of thirty-four dancers, the academy's largest group onstage since 2019.
The 1980s segment delivered the evening's most surprising turn. Rather than leaning on nostalgia, Brennan and hip-hop instructor Damon Reeves structured the number as a battle between two crews, with audience members cheering for sides. The participatory element risked chaos but paid off: the cheering lasted nearly a minute after the music cut, forcing the crew to hold their final poses through the noise.
Then came Torres's finale. Set to an unreleased ambient pop track by a local producer, the piece stripped away period costumes entirely. Dancers wore neutral unitards and moved through gestures borrowed from each earlier era—a Charleston kick slowed to contemporary tempo, a breakdancing floor sequence performed horizontally by the full ensemble. Okonkwo had approved the concept on one condition: Torres had to rehearse it herself, with no instructor intervention during the creative process.
"I wanted to see if she could build a bridge," Okonkwo said. "She did. The last minute of that piece, when the whole company is breathing in unison, you could feel the room change."
The Work Behind the Curtain
The production relied on 140 students ranging from age six to eighteen, with the youngest performers appearing only in the closing number. Forty parent volunteers handled hair, makeup, and quick changes backstage. The academy sold out both nights—480 seats each—with a waitlist of roughly seventy names for Saturday's show.
For many families, the full house carried weight. Enrollment at Northeastern Dance Academy dropped 34 percent between 2020 and 2022. The school survived through outdoor classes in a parking lot, then hybrid rehearsals with dancers masked and spaced ten feet apart. Last spring's recital was held in the academy studio with audiences limited to two family members per dancer.
"Last year my grandmother watched from a laptop in Florida," said Torres. "This year she flew up. She sat in the third row. That's the only review I needed."
What Comes Next
Okonkwo confirmed that the academy will expand its student choreography program next season, with two seniors selected to create pieces for the winter showcase. Applications open in September. Torres, who will study dance and arts administration at Barnard College in the fall, plans to return as a guest instructor during winter break.
The final image of "Eras" was deliberately simple: the full company standing in a single line, facing the audience, as the lighting shifted slowly through colors suggesting each decade they had just traveled. No bows. No music. Just breathing and light.
Then the applause started, and it did not stop.
