With music ranging from Pink Floyd to Jennifer Lopez to The Lion King, Orchesis Dance Company members express just about anything through their Choreographers' Showcase pieces.

The company's performance -- 14 pieces about graduation anxieties, college stress, breakup blues or life in general -- runs this weekend in the White Building.

"Orchesis is unique because choreographers are free to use their dance to express any emotion or idea they choose," said company Vice President Sarah Handza. "The dances this semester depict issues that many Penn State students experience."

"Our dancing is usually modern-based," Handza (senior-public relations) added, "but there's a lot of jazz this semester. Because a lot of the pieces deal with intense issues, the dancing tends to be strong."

Lauren Petrasek (sophomore-marketing) choreographed a piece "about how people pull us in different directions without really worrying about the stress and pressure that is put on us."

Set to Michael and Janet Jackson's "Scream," the piece "is something that my dancers and the audience will really be able to relate to," she said. "I thought that choreographing this would be a good way to overcome stress so the days I was getting bogged down by work or just everyday things, I would think about my dance."

Erinn Hatter (senior-art education) created her piece as a way for Orchesis seniors to say goodbye and "remember and appreciate our time here together at Penn State, in Orchesis, but with the knowledge that it's time to move on yet keep each other in our hearts."

"The idea came from my mixed feelings about leaving and graduating," she said. "In many ways I'm ready to go, but at the same time there's lots of things I'll miss, Orchesis being a major one."

Neeta Maniar's (senior-management science and information systems) piece, "Restless Spirit: A Vision of the Journey Ahead," also deals with graduation -- which she expresses through "a mixture of modern, ballet and some African dance" set to a score from The Lion King Broadway soundtrack.

"It reflects the mixture of my feelings about graduation," Maniar said of her piece, "and that includes sadness, apprehension, determination and hope. More than anything, it's a tribute to my friends and my parents especially ... I used graduation as the theme because I want this dance to be my final farewell to Penn State and to everyone in Orchesis, who will forever hold a special place in my heart."

Michelle Toscano (senior-psychology) added, "(Orchesis is) an incredible group of girls. We have all come together because of something we love so much. We love dancing and performing together."

"This is basically one last time that we can all dance together," she said. "Many of us are graduating this year and so a lot of us are leaving. We are all the best of friends. It just gives us a chance to really enjoy dancing and being together one last time."

Orchesis performs its Spring Choreographer's Showcase at 7 tonight and 2:30 p.m. tomorrow and Sunday. Tickets are $4.99 for Penn State students and $6.00 for the general public and are available at the door. For more on Orchesis, visit www.clubs.psu.edu/orchesis/.