The modern dance concert “Soaring” is a performance that incorporates movement with music, then takes the process far beyond the human frame.

“We’re using 3-D projected images that will follow our movements,” says dancer Elizabeth Williams.

Williams says the entire set will be projected imagery that will surround the audience, who will be wearing a type of 3-D glasses.

The dancers will be able to control the imagery with the movements of their bodies. They will be wearing sensors that transmit signals to computer programs that will manipulate the scenes. This will be synchronized with the music, and their bodies will be able to manipulate what is being heard.

In addition, most of the performance will be taking place while the dancers are suspended in the air.

“There will be a lot of interaction between us and the look of the performance,” Williams says.

Williams, graduate student in animal science, has been dancing for 15 years.

“I got the bug and never quit,” Williams says.

Williams says she enjoys dance because it’s not just about the physical demands — she feels there are also requirements of the dancers that aren’t so obvious to audiences.

“There are mental challenges to dancing,” she says. “It’s not just the physical or athletic stuff. It’s very intoxicating.”

Erin Halbur, senior in performing arts and a performer in the production, also fell in love with dance and has continued to follow her ambition. Her love of dance, however, stems from a more straightforward appreciation.

“I’ve always enjoyed movement,” Halbur said. “It’s all about taking flight, and having these caught-in-air moments.”

Oksana Yakhnenko, graduate student in computer science and performer in the production, explains that the in-flight movements is what “Soaring” is all about.

“Our feet rarely touch the ground,” Yakhnenko says.

In spite of the difference between “Soaring” and a traditional dance, Yakhnenko says that she enjoys dancing for a more old-fashioned reason — it is a way to express herself.

“I don’t want to conform to the computer-person stereotype,” Yakhnenko says.

The dancers said rehearsals have been exhausting. In the past few weeks, their rehearsals have gone from two hours a week to three and four hours in preparation for their first performance.

“It’s been very tiring,” Halbur says, “We do so much exertion with our bodies and move quickly from one thing to another.”

Yakhnenko says their aim is to give audiences something a little more meaningful that just a dance performance.

“We want to show people how you can be in the sky but still be on Earth. We can be in the sky, and be flying,” she says.

What: “Soaring”

Where: Ames City Auditorium, 515 Clark Ave.

When: 8 p.m. Saturday; 3 p.m. Sunday

Cost: $7 students, $10 public