“Go,” exhaled Kendra Dennard, igniting fellow members of the August Wilson Center Dance Ensemble (AWCDE) into their next phrase of movement, and their bodies flowed in complete unison through the vigorous choreography as if they shared one collective brain. Even their breaths, heard over the electronic accompaniment of static tones and beeps, were simultaneous. “Even though we look so different individually, we all move together so well. Our energy works together,” Dennard said after a rehearsal for the upcoming Black Dance Festival. “That energy, mixed with our quirky differences, creates a conversation of us combined.”From Nov. 4 to 6, Dennard will share the stage at the August Wilson Center for African American Culture, 980 Liberty Ave., with former Point Park University students James Washington, Annalee Traylor, Michael Bagne, Kaylin Horgan and Naila Ansari, in celebration of the past, present and future of African American dance tradition.Greer Reed, the Center’s artistic director of dance initiatives, founded the company with the initial intention to “bridge the gap between high school and college to the professional stage and to provide a training platform for young artists throughout the city.”But in the last three years, the talent of the AWCDE has “far exceeded” what Reed had imagined, and she contributes part of that success to Point Park’s dance program.”Point Park turns out amazing, well-rounded, diverse dancers, which I think right now is so important in the field of dance,” Reed said from a plush, burgundy seat in Row H. “Gone are the days when you can think, ‘I’m just going to be a ballerina or I’m just going to do modern.’ [Point Park] is right on target with creating dancers that are ready for anything.”The upcoming shows of the Black Dance Festival will feature works from the highly praised performance arts companies Ailey II, Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, Rennie Harris Puremovement and Deeply Rooted, as well as the AWCDE’s performance of both “Regality” choreographed by Darrell Grand Moultrie and “Function” by Pittsburgh native, Kyle Abraham on separate nights.Ansari, a 2011 graduate, said each dancer has his or her own perception of Abraham’s piece.”It reminds me of being in one big, social crowd, almost like a high school cafeteria,” she said in a phone interview on Monday. Each member of the ensemble takes on a character, molding their movement to that personality and adding spontaneity to the piece. Even though they’ve rehearsed it “a million times,” Ansari said each time is different because the dancers are driven by their personalities to add new quirks on stage.  “I find that [the piece] doesn’t really get tiring, although it’s pretty challenging,” Traylor, a 2010 alumna, said as perspiration from Friday’s rehearsal glistened on her forehead. “We each have our own character and we interpret the material in our own way.”Expression of personality is a large component of the message that the AWCDE hopes to convey both to training dancers and to the audience.In the second piece, “Regality,” Dennard said Moultrie created movement attuned to the “quirky differences” of each member of the company, which is a rare practice.”Sometimes choreographers come in with a set idea of what it is they want to do and they don’t always take into account everybody’s individual personality, and that’s something that Darrell specifically played off of for every solo that we had in the piece,” Dennard said as her voice echoed faintly off the walls of the Franco Harris Theater.The ensemble nodded in agreement as Dennard summed up their mission as the preservation of each dancer’s individuality.”Not one of us looks the same,” Dennard said, motioning to the circle of dancers. “We all have different shapes, sizes, bodies, leg lengths, arches in our feet … but you can see that same drive for life.”The AWCDE will channel their collective energy into the Black Dance Festival, paying tribute to the essence of African American styles in dance, regardless of each performer’s personal heritage.”This is something I’ve never said before, but I do feel very strongly about, especially going into the black dance conference being a white dancer,” Horgan said. “Black dance is not the color of the dancer. It’s the spirit and the soul and the fire underneath.”Tickets are $25 if purchased individually, but to receive the student group (10 or more) rate price of $13.38 a piece, call (412)471-6930. See www.pgharts.org for more information.