HEARTBEAT

MARCH 1st, 2026

LINCOLN CENTER, FORT COLLINS CO

SHOW ORDER

00. DESPAIR

MIXED MEDIA ON CANVAS

Utter hopelessness. This heart captures the essence of your world falling apart, with mosaic tiles dispersing into the vast void, claws piercing into the depths of your soul, and an unraveling of everything you’ve ever known. Despair captures everything and nothing all at: a pain too heavy to bear, yet an emptiness that leaves you hollow at the core. And yet, it’s impossible to know the fullness of joy without the fullness of despair. In the embrace of the liminal space, the desperation for more, your heart will glimmer back to hope.

CHOREOGRAPHED BY ISAAC BARTLETT

SOS HIP-HOP CREW | Hazel Constant, Aliya Corne, Alli Ellis, Tirzah Holmlund, Mathisse Kitissou-Jones, Corinne Kuster, Jael Scott, Amalie Sumitra, Kingston Sumitra

01. MONSTERS

PIN & INK ON PAPER

This heart represents trauma at its peak, whether in the midst of circumstantial trauma or the emotional/mental state that remains afterward. It is deep deep deep pain, emotions, feelings, all resonating in reality. While the intensity of this emotional state is temporary on the healing journey, its scars will always remain. 

A reminder of how far you’ve come. 

A basis for empathizing with others’ pain. 

This tormenting state may seem overpowering but there is a vast ocean of opportunity for hope and healing ahead.

CHOREOGRAPHED BY: NATALIE JOHNSON

TIDES PERFORMANCE COMPANY | Brittena Bartlett, Molly Bordewyk, Laila McHenry, Kaci Shipley, Catherine Smith

02. BONDAGE

STEEL WELDING

This heart is entangled in bondage. It’s indestructible, unbreakable, and heavy. It feels stuck with no way out, suffocating by chains tightly wound around the chest. It is unresolved trauma molding into a hardened heart. It is disassociated with itself, overcompensating for misspoken truths. This heart fails to realize its protective mechanisms are actually causing more pain. While one may think they are becoming stronger, “managing their pain”, they are actually welding one painful moment to another, building walls that no one can break through. 

CHOREOGRAPHED BY: GRETA SUGAI

MESSENGERZ DANCE: Meri Barber, Caitlyn Dipasupil, Noelle Magruder, Matthew Newell, Chloe Patterson, Erica Powell, Becca Shoemaker, Greta Sugai

03. SHATTERED

DIGITAL DESIGN

Layers and layers of trauma frozen over. One hurt reinforced by another hurt. Years of trauma, years of triggers, years of emotional pain left unsettled. While encrusted in the immovable, it’s equally as fragile and could shatter at any given moment, at any unexpected trigger. Something cracking on the surface level provokes an extremely irrational, emotional response, rooted from deep pain. It is a dark and cold place to be. Yet all the while, our Loving Father is slowing chipping away at the ice, melting the core, and revealing the way out.

CHOREOGRAPHED BY: LYNNCHERI VORHEES

ANCHOR PERFORMANCE CO | Kaitlyn Ballenski, Annabel Hock, Sylvia Krier, Penelope Lillis, Matilda Mullins, Jael Scott, Kingston Sumitra

04. LOST

INK ON MYLAR

This heart is lost in itself. It has gone numb, burying all feelings and emotions so deeply inside. This heart cannot find a clearing, with clouded thoughts roaming and racing within. Depression masks its walls, lingering anxiety seeping through the windows. On the outside, the busyness of life is the best medication, distraction. On the inside, it feels empty, lonely, and ever so dark; completely unaware of the emotional weight that trauma left behind. Disassociation is this heart’s best friend and self-awareness is seldom to none.

CHOREOGRAPHED BY: NATALIE JOHNSON

SAILS PERFORMANCE COMPANY | Selah Basel, Tirzah Holmlund, Adassah MacAlmon, Chloe MacAlmon, Hope Martin, Laila McHenry, Amalie Sumitra, Josefina Verville

05. SUFFOCATION

Papier-Mâché Sculpture

This piece, while simplistic in form and color, represents suffocation. It signifies the feelings of entrapment and anxiety. Perhaps it’s a tight chest, clenching fists, or a pit in your stomach. It represents those awful feelings you cannot seem to shake. You’re struggling for air, for just one deep breath to reset. But the walls are closing in tighter and faster with every breath, every heartbeat. It seems impossible, but take just a moment to sit still, acknowledge your current situation, and inhale a deep, airy, breath. That’s when healing begins.

CHOREOGRAPHED BY: MATTHEW NEWELL & ERICA POWELL

MESSENGERZ DANCE DUET: MATTHEW NEWELL & ERICA POWELL

06. TENSIONS

EMBROIDERY ON CANVAS

This heart is in constant tension between trauma and healing. Growing pains, if you will. This heart begins the journey of self-awareness, grace, and compassion for itself. This heart sees the light and hope of healing, yet is still burdened by lingering and unresolved trauma. It wants to grow, but isn’t ready to let go. This heart is required to look its greatest fears in the eyes; to replace old lies with the Lord’s truth. However, the provocation of revisiting those dark places is a pain so great, a fragile state, yet the strongest place to be. 

PT 1 CHOREOGRAPHED BY: CINDY LUNDY

PT 2 CHOREOGRAPHED BY MELISSA HOLMLUND

PERFORMED BY: Brittena Bartlett, Talia Bierman, Molly Bordewyk, Tirzah Holmlund, Natalie Johnson, Laila McHenry, Talia Morali, Kaci Shipley, Catherine Smith, Hannah Stover

There will be a brief intermission between parts 1 and 2 of “Tensions” We invite you to see Meagans art in the lobby during this time

07. RESTORATION

WATERCOLOR ON PAPER

Replacing lies with the Truth. This piece is a reflection of my personal journey. Inscribed on the left are entries of my trauma journal, paired with scripture rewriting the pain. While still in a battle between trauma and healing, it is as if the two begin to work in unison. Pushing, pulling, stretching, growing. While this heart becomes more susceptible to unexpected triggers, it also becomes more capable of understanding compassion for itself. It is the process of restoration. The more you understand your story, the more healing emerges.

CHOREOGRAPHED BY: BRITTENA BARTLETT

SAILS PERFORMANCE COMPANY | Selah Basel, Tirzah Holmlund, Adassah MacAlmon, Chloe MacAlmon, Hope Martin, Laila McHenry, Amalie Sumitra, Josefina Verville

08. BREAKTHROUGH

LINOCUT PRINTMAKING

A burst of warmth, joy, hope, & light, all euphorically exploding from within! It has been a long hard journey to finally find a sense of relief. A milestone proving this journey is worth it. This pivotal moment is the realization that your traumatic emotions may have been lying to you. You are stronger than you know, victorious, and deserving of love. The journey is far from over, yet the hope that healing has begun to manifest and root deep in your soul is the momentum that will perpetuate your continuous growth and healing.

CHOREOGRAPHED & PREFORMED BY THE KITISSOU-JONES FAMILY

Adzelle Kitissou-Jones, Manu Kitissou-Jones, Mimi Kitissou-Jones, Mathisse Kitissou-Jones

09. WASHING

MIXED MEDIA SCULPTURE

This piece represents the washing of the heart. First inspired by spiritual baptism, the act of purification through Jesus Christ. In His loving-kindness and grace, He washes our hearts, free of guilt and shame. And secondly, the verse “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me” (Psalm 51:10). This piece is a complete transformation from dark to light, not by our own human strength but by Our Creator who loves us unconditionally. He is washing away the scars that trauma left behind.

CHOREOGRAPHED BY: LYNNCHERI VORHEES

ANCHOR PERFORMANCE CO | Kaitlyn Ballenski, Annabel Hock, Sylvia Krier, Penelope Lillis, Matilda Mullins, Jael Scott, Kingston Sumitra

10. PROCESSING

ACRYLIC POUR PAINTING

This pour painting embodies a visual representation of processing through intertwining and connecting, as thoughts begin to flow together in unity. Processing emerges after establishing a safe and healthy emotional state, where you can dive deep into understanding and self-awareness. It is a journey of becoming aware of connections that link triggers to trauma, and childhood experiences to subconscious thoughts and tendencies. It is the process of connecting to yourself and to your world, and understanding how you operate as a human being. 



CHOREOGRAPHED BY GRETA SUGAI

CCU DANCE DEPARTMENT | Julia Ciepiel, Molly Marksbury, Matthew Newell, Erica Powell, Madison Vella, Brenna Nozot, Brielle Weedman

11. FLOURISH

PAPER QUILING

This heart represents a joy like never before. A warmth from within, ricocheting from the deepest places to every inch of the outer walls. This heart encompasses a whimsical, childlike aspect, completely safe, free, and whole. This heart has complexity in detail, embracing self-worth in every component. This heart is strong, bound together by healing moments. It creates a web of memories, once traumatic but now coated in truth and grace. It continues to grow and expand as healing becomes a fluid state of being.

CHOREOGRAPHED BY KACI SHIPLEY AND MOLLY BORDEWYK

BEACON DANCE COMPANY | Adelyn Bratten, Sienna Colby, Adalynn Hastings, RuthAnne Holmlund, Logan Klinger, Avalynn MacAlmon, Enaya Martinez, Greta McHenry, Polina Morehouse, Ellie Perkins, Lucia Richards, Vivian Sessions, Tora Verville, Ginnessa Wetzbarger

12. PURIFICATION

PORCELAIN & KINTSUGI

A purified, whole, healed, restored heart. Porcelain is white, smooth, fine-grained clay. It represents purity in itself. It’s highly favored and very valuable, as such each of our hearts. The Japanese art of Kintsugi repairs broken pottery with infused gold. It embraces imperfections and flaws, and adds more value than the original piece. It’s symbolic of the healing process in that we must embrace our imperfections and become aware of the necessary repairs, so that we may be transformed and purified into restored creations. 



CHOREOGRAPHED BY EMILY GRIFFITH

PERFORMED BY | Molly Bordewyk, Tirzah Holmlund, Becky James, Hope Martin, Dakota May, Greta May, Laila McHenry, AnnMarie Osmus, Kaci Shipley, Catherine Smith, Hannah Stover, Amalie Sumitra, Carrie Verville

13. SHALOM

MIXED MEDIA ON WOOD PANEL

This heart is the essence of human flourishing. We were made for Eden, for rest, for wholeness. We were made to be integrated into an ecosystem of health, a health that permeates all our being. Holding both the reality that we live in a broken world, and that flourishing often feels far out of reach, may we press on, in the relentless pursuit of shalom even in life’s greatest pains. May we catch glimpses of Heaven on this side of eternity, and glimmers of shalom as we hold both the pain of the world and the life we were created for.

CHOREOGRAPHED BY GRETA SUGAI

MESSENGERZ DANCE: Meri Barber, Caitlyn Dipasupil, Noelle Magruder, Matthew Newell, Chloe Patterson, Erica Powell, Becca Shoemaker, Greta Sugai

After viewing this series, you may be thinking "now what"? What do I do with this information, how do I process what I just absorbed?

Meagan has created each print available for purchase. Additionally, she has created a Guided Journal that includes each piece, description, and journaling pages to help you process your own journey and your own heart. Click the buttons below to learn more.

Visit her Site

Counseling & Other Resources

Some themes explored in this production may touch on meaningful or sensitive experiences. If you find yourself needing additional support, we encourage you to reach out. Below is a list of counseling and support resources available within our community. Seeking support is a courageous and healthy step, and you are not alone.

Books

Make Sense of Your Story - Adam Young

Redeeming Heartache - Dan Allender and Cathy Loerzel

The Body Keeps the Score - Bessel van der Kolk, M.D.

The Wisdom of Your Body - Hillary McBride, PhD

Other Authors:

    • Curt Thompson

    • Peter Levine

    • Resma Menakem

Podcasts

The Place We Find Ourselves

The Allender Center Podcast

Trauma Rewired

The Connected Life

Being Known Podcast

Heartbeat Home

CREATIVES BEHIND HEARTBEAT