Laundry, sex, religion and community are a seemingly unlikely consortium, but not in Ritual Expressions.

Tonight and tomorrow starting at 8 at the Playhouse Theatre, the University Dance Company (UDC) will stage Ritual Expressions.

The show is the dance company's annual large-scale recital and is divided into 10 different titled pieces that address life's daily routines through contemporary dance.

Assistant professor of dance Elisha Clark not only directed the show, but also formed UDC two years ago.

The modern-based dance organization is composed of 23 members who are all Penn State dance minors.

"The goal that we set out this year was to look at rituals in different ways," she said.

Clark explained that the 10 different pieces vary in topic, style of dance and overall mood.

Falling Hemispheres is a piece that stems from the spiritual aspects of daily routines and emotions, such as prayer and attending church services each week.

"I was interested in the body positions used in different religious prayer positions," Clark said. "I did research on the stance and arm positions for the different aspects of prayer and started there and made a piece."

Clark said although rituals were a jumping-off point, she feels the meaning in the end was about the overall idea of community.

"I think that's something that is pretty big on this campus -- people join clubs and find their community," she said.

"We want the student body to come and really support [UDC] and see that there is talent on this campus in so many areas and dance is really one of them."

Victoria Scanga (junior-broadcast journalism and integrative arts) will be performing in four different pieces, including Timed Dry, a dance performance which focuses on the ritual of doing laundry.

"Basically we are dancing around a dryer and experimenting with the sound and space," she said.

The piece has no music except for the precisely rehearsed beats of the dancers onstage.

"Timed Dry has a very Stomp-esque feel to it. We're dancing in sneakers and stomping on the floor," she said.

Raven Cauthon (senior-business) is also performing in Ritual Expressions and will be in three different dances, including Fear, which was created last May by a guest choreographer from the Grier School in Tyrone.

"That dance is a struggle between good and evil; there is one main girl in it stuck in purgatory, and my role is an angel," she said.

The girl, who is the main character, has died and is stuck in purgatory for something she has done in her previous life.

"We're fighting over her -- she's done something in life where she needs to prove herself worthy to go to heaven," she said.

Cauthon said Ritual Expressions is different because it's not the typical dance performance that an audience expects to see, because it includes a wide spectrum of music and dance types.

"It has such a broad range of different dance. There is hop-hop, there is a little African piece, there is going to be something for everyone," she said.