Oftentimes, dance shows that come to State College are professional companies performing exceptional pieces that dance aficionados can appreciate. Acts such as this, however, can be harder for students to connect to despite being entertaining and aesthetically pleasing.

This weekend, students will get the chance to a dance show featuring their peers, when members of the University Dance Company perform Unbound at 8 p.m. Thursday and Friday at the Playhouse Theatre.

"I was brainstorming one day and I was sort of thinking about working with students and it seemed appropriate for them, wanting to find a freedom of expression," said Elisha Clark, assistant professor of dance and director of Unbound, the University Dance Company's spring show.

The title of the show was inspired by the idea of liberating the dancers' abilities to express themselves.

Since September, the dancers have been in rehearsal for six hours every week preparing each of the six pieces that will be performed.

The first dance, called "Twilight," is a piece Clark choreographed last year. She chose to revisit the dance and wound up with completely new choreography.

Twilight is a special part of the day," Clark said. "There's an electricity and excitement of what can come," adding that the idea of a time period that is both a beginning and an end was central to the choreography.

Though the movements changed from the original piece, the idea behind the dance is still intact.

"It's more fully realized. Mainly what's left is the emotional content," Clark said.

School of Theater assistant professor Michele Dunleavy choreographed the next piece, entitled "Right Here Right Now." This piece was originally performed in Pittsburgh with the Pittsburgh Dance Connection, Dunleavy said, adding that the dance has since been re-staged twice.

"Each time the dance is re-staged it changes slightly, reflecting the individuality of the dancers, their connection to each other, their physical abilities and level of training," she said.

The inspiration for the dance came from Dunleavy's ideas about the search for balance, she said. Penn State associate professor of music Mark Ballora composed the music for the dance, she added.

"[I explored] the tenuousness of balance both physically and metaphorically. In this incarnation we talked a lot about finding balance between the past and the future -- about what it means to be on the threshold of a life-changing event, like graduation, for example," Dunleavy said.

Dunleavy's dance has five dancers, whose input she incorporated into the re-staging where applicable. Because the choreography was already finished, the influence of this set of dancers wasn't as strong as that of the original dancers.

Another dance, entitled "Polaris," comes from assistant professor of dance Spence Ford. The piece is unique in that Ford's brother composed the music several years ago.

"My brother Mark wrote a solo marimba piece called 'Polaris.' I've always loved 'Polaris.' I thought this would be the perfect chance to use Mark's music," Ford said. "It'll just be a really interesting experience to see how he reacts to it. I'm so excited, the music really moves me."

This is Ford's first year choreographing for the spring showcase, which is a departure from her typical musical theater choreography experiences.

"I hope that they really get to feel something, that they get inspired on some level about how to think about moving in a direction. I hope the people watching feel like they can't look away," Ford said.

Ford also looked to the input of the students for some aspects of her choreography as well as costuming choices.

"It's much more fun to work together like that," Ford said.

The spring showcase audience has expanded from a mostly family-based audience to one that is more diverse over the past three years, Clark said. She added that the show caters to everyone, with some lighter pieces and some more dramatic pieces.

"I hope the audience will see an emotional expression that they would have made," Clark said. "It's really fantastic when the audience is students because it's all about connecting with the audience and they're all [the dancers and the students] at a similar place in life."