The Zodiaque Dance Ensemble, celebrating its 20th anniversary season, will present its spring concert, “Cool Hunting,” March 9-11 in the Black Box Theatre in the Center for the Arts, North Campus.

Performance times are 7:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and 2 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.

Tickets can be purchased online and through ticketfly.com, or at the Center for the Arts box office.

Directed by Jeanne Fornarola, director of the undergraduate dance program, “Cool Hunting” looks at trends in action and behaviors in specific groups of people.

UB student dancers will present the choreography by dance faculty Kerry Ring and Danielle Sheather, in addition to Fornarola.

Fornarola’s choreography explores the classic pantomime and choreographic patterns derived from the traditional roots of the romantic ballet and manipulates them to create a contemporary “cool” look. Ring explores “cool” through a new terrain where music and movement meet during each live performance. The music, composed and performed by Theatre and Dance accompanist Kevin McFadden, is a live response to the movement, which reflects an expression of one’s inner fire and reinforces the idea that an artistic experience can stoke an internal passion.

Sheather’s piece examines the expression of time and asks the genuine question: “Who knows where the time goes?”

The department’s first MFA candidates, Michael Lambert and Mary Grace Sullivan, are contributing choreographers. Lambert’s choreography takes audience members on a journey to find something or somewhere better than their own reality in an effort not to settle for what is. Sullivan’s piece includes a cast of women finding common ground by snapping their fingers and clapping their hands, making audible rhythm together that punctuates the movement of solo dancer and/or duet dancers. One rhythm creates a new rhythm, while the dancers control the speed, timbre and syncopation of the sound score.

Also presenting work are senior dance majors Rachel Latke, Jessica Levin, Jessica Caraciolo and Lilibeth Javier. The team of Latke and Levin offers a piece that has a “cool” vibe inspired by the #MeToo and #Timesup movements with the goal of creating choreography that embodies girl power, standing in solidarity, unity and leadership.

Caraciolo’s piece looks at the past “cool” innovations of Louie Fuller and explores the effects of light on fabric, while Javier’s choreography explores pathways of the human heart in an attempt to reach a deeper understanding of how and when our heart rates change.

The Department of Theatre & Dance’s 2017-18 season takes inspiration from the UB 2020 theme of “innovation.”