MANKATO — The end of winter is full of inspiration, whether it’s to exercise more, spend time outdoors, or perhaps, create a dance.

Changing seasons are exactly what inspired Minnesota State University Director of Dance Julie Kerr-Berry as she choreographed “Underneath the Sky,” a modern piece demonstrating the thawing period that comes between winter and spring.

With late April approaching, and winter finally seeming to fade out for sure this time, MSU Theatre & Dance is prepared to put on its Spring Dance Collection 2009 Concert. The show will feature nine pieces choreographed by various students, faculty and guests that have visited MSU in the past.

Although the department also performs an annual winter concert that sticks to one main idea, the spring collection is just that — a collection.

“There isn’t a common theme,” Kerr-Berry said. “This one is really more of a collection of works that have been generated or choreographed through the whole year.”

Along with her environmentally inspired piece, Kerr-Berry has choreographed another dance for the show, titled “Rhapsody in 5.” Her husband, Timothy Berry, wrote an original composition to accompany the dance, which is meant to portray joyfulness and celebration.

“I think it probably came off the momentum of (Barack Obama’s) inauguration,” Kerr-Berry said, adding that the song gives dancers the opportunity, and the challenge, to move to a very intricate rhythm and dance with joy.

It utilizes a strong ballet component, but also focuses on modern dance, a style that is based on the natural movements of the body, she said.

Modern dance won’t be the only type performed at the concert, however. Professor Paul Finocchiaro put together a tap dance, but strayed from the ordinary when choreographing his piece. “If You’re Gonna” is performed to a song by recording artist Natasha Bedingfield.

“It’s really aggressive, it’s rock ‘n’ roll, and I like that it’s not traditional tap dance music,” Finocchiaro said.

The song, itself, is what in-spired him to create the dance, and as the instructor of an ad-vanced tap class, he knew his students were the right group to perform it. The class has spent the past eight weeks rehearsing the routine, which Finocchiaro choreographed to portray the meaning of the song.

“It’s all about being the best at what you do and kind of striving for that perfection,” he said. “I think that kind of embodies what we do here at MSU Theatre & Dance.”

While Finocchiaro’s dance may represent the mindset of those in the department, another dance in the concert more literally sums up the department, as the piece is performed in a style called dance theatre. “White Trash” does not use spoken word but is a theatrical comedic duet choreographed by Alan Sener, a former Nadine B. Andreas Guest Artist in Residence at MSU.

Professor Daniel Stark is one of the dancers in “White Trash,” which is named specifically for the group it represents.

“It’s a dance that is looking at that segment of our culture that is ripe for parody,” Stark said, noting that even though the content is meant to be satirical, some may find it provocative.

“White Trash” is performed in two parts to two different songs, the first by Led Zeppelin and the second by Jimmy Page, formerly of Led Zeppelin. For those wondering exactly what Sener considers to be white trash, picture a husband and wife fighting over a remote control, one of the scenes featured in the second dance.

Aside from performing in Sener’s piece, Stark also choreographed a dance he calls “Meaningless Variations on No Particular Theme.” Composed of randomly-placed movements with no central premise, Stark’s routine mirrors the spring concert as a whole — a compilation of different techniques strung together for one all-inclusive presentation.