Ensemble Dance Works 2013 showcases the works of local Houston choreographers, performed by the pre-professional dance company, the UH Dance Ensemble. The dynamics of Houston choreographers explode as they confront the changes of life and nature, tackle the issues of community, or just have pure fun.

The performance displays a range of styles from contemporary dance choreographers and UH dance faculty Teresa Chapman, Leslie Scates, jhon r stronks, Sophia Torres, Becky Valls, the Head of the UH Dance Program, Karen Stokes, and guest choreographer Sara Draper. Many of the pieces use the creation of movement as their focal point.

Crawl Before You Walk by Teresa Chapman was inspired by contrasting movement patterns and gestures of the very young and the very old. Becky Valls is restaging Dangle for the upcoming American College Dance Festival as well as Ensemble Dance Works 2013. In Leslie Scates' HERD, she explains that she is working with improvised movement from a foundation of sustained and repetitive movement phrases.

Other pieces use psychological, social and anthropological themes to navigate the choreography. jhon r stronks' Dogs don't eat egg rolls, with music by Gold Panda, is an ensemble work that examines the development and establishment of community. Sophia Torres uses the natural movement of the ocean as a symbol of human behavior in Ground Swell. In First Day of Spring, Second Day of Spring, Sara Draper shares that she has been experimenting with mixing and fusing traditional ethnic dance styles with modern dance since the late 1990s.