From the Lensic Stage to the Shop Floor

A Saturday evening of contemporary dance, and the company that came home with us afterward.

On Saturday, we spent the evening at the Lensic, where Zeitgeist Dance Theatre presented an evening of contemporary dance. We went as we go to most things here, curious and unhurried, and we came away moved. It was terrific. There is a particular pleasure in watching dancers who are fully committed to the work in front of them, and this was that kind of night: bodies in agreement with an idea, a room holding its breath, the small miracle of live performance doing what only live performance can.

Contemporary dance at its best is not decoration. It is argument and feeling made physical, an art form that asks the audience to sit with what it cannot quite name. That is close to how we think about most things worth our attention, whether a garment, a painting, or an evening. You do not rush to the point. You let it arrive.

Zeitgeist Dance Theatre is a Santa Fe company, founded in 2020 and led by co-artistic directors Francisco Gella and Yusha-Marie Sorzano. The name means the spirit of the times, and the company has taken that seriously, building work that reaches for excellence and innovation while making the case for New Mexico as a genuine gathering place for contemporary dance. Saturday’s program marked the culmination of the company’s fifth summer season and an ambitious three-week residency rooted in creation, collaboration, and artistic exchange. The evening gathered six contemporary works and more than seventy-five artists, with choreography from Livona Ellis, Francisco Gella, Vladimir Conde Reche, Jessica Miller Tomlinson, and Madison Falconer. That scale, on a Santa Fe stage, is worth pausing over. It is not a small thing to convene that many artists around a single week of work.

When the performance ended, the evening did not. The entire company and a handful of special guests came over to W Department, and the shop became something other than a shop for a few hours. There is a version of an after party that is only noise. This was not that. It was dancers and the people who make dance possible, standing among the racks and the light, still carrying the charge of what they had just done onstage. We have always believed the store is more than a place to buy clothes; it is a room, and rooms are meant to hold people. To have it filled with a company that had just given so much of itself was exactly the kind of gathering we hope for when we keep the doors open on the Plaza.

Fifty years in one place teaches you that culture is not something you consume from a seat. It is something you host, feed, and stand inside of. Saturday moved from the Lensic’s stage to our own floor without ever losing its thread, one long evening in the life of a small city that takes its art seriously. We are grateful to Zeitgeist for the performance, and gladder still for the company that came home with us afterward. There is no place like Santa Fe for a night like that.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is Zeitgeist Dance Theatre?

Zeitgeist Dance Theatre is a Santa Fe contemporary dance company founded in 2020. Its name refers to the spirit of the times, and the company builds work that reaches for excellence and innovation while making the case for New Mexico as a genuine gathering place for contemporary dance.

Who leads Zeitgeist Dance Theatre?

The company is led by co-artistic directors Francisco Gella and Yusha-Marie Sorzano.

What was the performance, and when and where was it?

An Evening of Contemporary Dance took place at the Lensic Performing Arts Center in Santa Fe on Saturday, August 1, 2026. It was the culmination of the company’s fifth summer season and a three-week residency, gathering six contemporary works and more than seventy-five artists, with choreography by Livona Ellis, Francisco Gella, Vladimir Conde Reche, Jessica Miller Tomlinson, and Madison Falconer.