If a picture is worth a thousand words, dancing is worth a million. This is what Ephrat Asherie, the choreographer and artistic director of “UNDERSCORED,” believes — that dance is a form of storytelling that has the power to connect experiences and memories in personal ways.

“UNDERSCORED” by the Ephrat Asherie Dance Company will transcend the underground club scene to Bovard Auditorium Thursday at 7 p.m., showing the audience where some of the world’s most popular dance styles have emerged from. After hearing that most people were unaware of the rich history behind some dance forms and music in her previous work, “ODEON,” Asherie felt compelled to inform audiences of dance history with “UNDERSCORED.”

“The urgency behind making this work really came out of loss,” Asherie said. “We — the underground scene — we have suffered some serious losses in terms of mentors and elders in the last five to seven years and, of course, before that as well.”

“UNDERSCORED” honors the giants that have passed in an “In Memoriam” section as they are a part of the dance movement. The underground spaces founded by the Black, Latine and LGBTQIA+ communities around New York City were particularly special havens for clubheads to gather and express themselves in ways that weren’t acceptable aboveground. However, the only right way to tell these stories of resilience and passion was to bring in the living legends that led these movements themselves.

“[Asherie is] a friend,” said Archie Burnett, an “UNDERSCORED” cast member. “I’ve been dancing with her for about 20 years. So when she spoke to me about this project, I mean, I’ve always been fascinated with club culture moving to stage because you really can’t reproduce it. You can’t. But the attempts to tell valid stories [are] always fascinating to me.”

Burnett is one of the legends of the NYC club scene that emerged in the ’80s and ’90s. Known for starring in the dance documentary “Check Your Body at the Door” (2012) as well as his teaching, Burnett remains an active house dancer.

“I play myself in association with my memories,” Burnett said. “Every moment that I make is grounded in a memory. For me, it’s all that simple.”

In “UNDERSCORED,” Brahms “Bravo” LaFortune reenacts how he got his stage name during his first meeting with Burnett and their collaboration in the “Check Your Body at the Door.” The audience will experience a three-dimensional production as the performers sing and dance to the moments captured in photographs displayed in the background.

“Audience-wise, it’s a surprise some people in the audience used to go out or have been to some of the clubs that we talk about where we’re at,” Bravo said. “It’s always a joy for them to see that someone from the scene or from the era is performing it live, so they get a big kick out of it.”

Bravo has witnessed the sentiment towards hip hop culture has been growing popular over time. “UNDERSCORED” premiered at the Guggenheim Museum, a venue that wouldn’t have been possible for social dancers forty years ago. While time had remedied the conditions in which hip hop and social dance could be showcased in professional venues, the coronavirus pandemic has strengthened the core of the work.

“A lot of us were tested to see if we’re able to rise to the occasion, and I gotta hand it to Ephrat,” Burnett said. “She was the motivation, even though she was going through her own challenges too after the pandemic. She’s still getting there. And her commitment boosted everybody else up and we ended up doing that, and got back into rare form.”

Bravo agrees that Asherie’s focused leadership helped the company maintain a constant dialogue and stay on track with the production, embracing the changes and challenges from all angles.

“[Asherie], I like to give her kudos as a director,” Bravo said. “[It’s] not the fact that she speaks to us, it’s the fact she listens to us. That makes a big difference.”

So far, the cast has performed the piece in New York and Arkansas. Asherie says each stop of the tour has had a different vibe, which is the beauty of telling “UNDERSCORED.” By connecting with local dancers — and Asherie guarantees there are always social dancers at every stop — it proved to her that though the club scenes could differ, “UNDERSCORED” is “not just a New York story.”

“The stage has its own kind of magic,” Asherie said. “And I’m interested in that. I like the bringing together of, I love the crafting of the lighting, the projections and bringing people in space in a way that allows some kind of specificity with the room to freestyle — because, of course, that’s what we do.”

Burnett encourages the audience to express themselves freely as the subject matter of “UNDERSCORED” is exactly about celebrating decades of free expression through dance.

“This is an emotional journey,” Burnett said. “Be emotional. You can scream the things you like. You can laugh [at] the things you like. You don’t have to be [quiet] because we’re telling stories and we’re living some truths that we just so happen to put in a theater piece. That way, it has a beginning, a middle and an end. So, just come as you are.”