Black Movements Dance Theatre’s upcoming performance is a captivating examination of the many shapes joy can take. The performance is a showcase of roughly nine dances — this number is subject to change by the time of the show — embodying the show’s name, “Jubilation!”

Aliyah Williams (SFS ’20), student director of BMDT, crafted the show under the oversight of Faculty Director and Artistic Director Alfreda Davis, who has helped Williams in her various roles and ensures the performance is in keeping with the spirit of BMDT. BMDT was conceived by black Georgetown students over 35 years ago as a space to express their personal experiences, rooted in their perspectives, according to Williams and Davis.

Williams, who has been part of the BMDT for multiple years, is directing her first show for the company. Stepping into that role has been a multifaceted experience for Williams, who has acted as student director, arts administrator, choreographer and dancer over the course of the last several months.

Williams also chose the theme, seeking to break from the heavier topics that the company had previously handled in their shows “Defiance” and “Exodus.”

“So I felt like kind of going in a more upbeat, positive direction of how do we find joy through the hardships that we’ve gone through,” Williams said.

For Williams, crafting this vision was both a new and intimate experience that will come to fruition on the public stage next week Feb. 15 and 16. She describes last year, when she began working on this piece, as a “very trying year.” Coming to practice every day and putting the theme to work has been deeply personal for Williams and has made working on the showcase all the more distinct compared to her past time with the company.

“Jubilation!” is shaped by those same ideals. Davis is aware some have questioned the multiracial makeup of the dance company, particularly in light of its name and history, but she believes this fact is a natural result of the company’s evolution, not at all at odds with its founding spirit.

“I think that we get to a place where we can understand, respect and grow as a community when we can learn about varying cultures and how we coexist, so we love the fact that anyone wants to come and try out for BMDT and it has always been an open organization,” Davis said.

The black experience continues to serve as the foundation for the company’s performances. For example, one section of next week’s showcase, choreographed by Davis herself, is a tribute to Aretha Franklin, who died in August of last year. The section, titled “Queen of Soul,” combines a number of Franklin’s works in order to pay respect to her contributions to the work both artistically, in her work as a musician, and politically, in her role as an activist.

Two of the works that the company is working on were choreographed by two of their guest choreographers. The first, “Breathe,” was choreographed by Patina Browner, a former artist in residence for the company.

Browner’s piece is a dynamic, multisensory experience that gives shifting interpretations of the vitality expressed by a breath. The piece uses the sonics of the dancers and their presence on stage to examine the varying impacts and shapes that a breath can take.

Browner’s piece is one part of the showcase’s larger idea of “Jubilation!” that will ask the audience to think about the connection between breathing and happiness, according to Davis.

“How do you breathe, how do you push through and still find joy if you have so many different elements going on in your life, and how do you manage it and still breathe and still find joy,” Davis said.

The second piece they rehearsed, the title of which is still a work in progress, was choreographed by Maverick Lemons, who had also previously choreographed several other works for the company.

This piece is more impressionistic in its representation of jubilation. Davis describes it as a more “experimental” work in which Maverick’s choreography allows the dancers to “push themselves in ways that they don’t typically push themselves.”

Even in the rehearsals, the sense of physicality and energy that animates the company’s performance is palpable; whether a piece is improvisational or rigidly choreographed, the dancers move with a unifying spirit and purpose.

When the audience watches “Jubilation!” next week, the audience will surely find answers to all the questions and discovery that wrought the performance’s creation like where to find joy amid hardship.