The Gustavus Theater and Dance Department present their last production of the season Next Best Steps: The Gustavus Dance Company in Concert on May 13 and 14 at 8p.m. and May 15 at 2p.m.

Senior Dance with Honors major Laura Johnson, who received the Distinguished Dance Student Award for this year, is heavily involved in the dance department and the upcoming show.

“I think the thing I’ll miss most about dancing at Gustavus is the close-knit community. The Gustavus Dance Company is like a family. It’s not a huge department, so we all get to know each other really well through classes, rehearsals and outside the studio,” Johnson said. “We’re all super weird and it’s great. It’s definitely the people I’m going to miss the most and it’s bittersweet to leave a community where I have felt so accepted, but at the same time I’m happy to know that I’ll always have the Gustavus Dance Company as a support system.”

Johnson will be performing in four pieces in the concert; Sophomore Allie Retterath’s “Meretricious,” Visiting Assistant Professor Jill Patterson’s “Counting Stars,” Professor Michele Rusinko’s “Uprooted,” and “Studies in Gravity” by Visiting Assistant Professor Sarah Hauss.

Retterath’s “Meretricious” was performed in the fall dance show Kinetic Tapestries and was showcased at the American College  Dance Association (ACDA) North Central Conference in Steven’s Point this past March.

“The piece is a trio and it’s more like physical theatre than it is dance,” Johnson said.

The trio of dancers wear cream dressed and utilize blue chairs while competing with each other in various ways throughout the dance.

“Meretricious means apparently attractive but having in reality no value or integrity. My interpretation of the piece is kind of how people constantly need more or be more, but that is never truly satisfying, hence the idea of having in reality no value or integrity,” Johnson said. “However, I think the piece can be interpreted in multiple ways. I remember someone saying they thought it was like their childhood dolls coming to life to murder them. So, you know, it’s really up for interpretation.”

The dancers’ purpose is to make the audience feel something, not necessarily understand the choreographer’s inspiration for the piece but create their own meaning as they watch it.

Many audience members can feel like they are missing the point of the piece but the dances are created to mean something different for each of the audience members.

Several of the other pieces have been performed before. Patterson’s “Counting Stars” was originally performed at last year’s spring dance concert and was performed at this year’s  ACDA with a lot of new dancers cast as many seniors who performed in the piece last year had graduated. It was chosen out of 48 other pieces to be performed at the Gala Concert with 11 other dances.

“The piece was inspired by a poem called “Any Case” written by Wislawa Szymborska which is about why some people live and why others die. It’s a darker piece, more emotional piece, but I think there is a lot of beauty within it. The piece is also one of the more physical demanding pieces in the concert, requiring a lot of technical skill,” Johnson said.

Rusinko’s “Uprooted” was originally performed at C in CC this fall. The piece was readapted to fit the Anderson Stage and set to different music. Each year it is tradition that the senior’s choose a choreographer to create their senior piece. This year the seniors’ chose Sarah Hauss and includes poems read by Seniors Nick Sweetland, Thomas Buan and Laura Herbers.

“This piece is quirky, it’s sad, it’s fun and it’s weird. It’s kind of focused on the idea of saying goodbye and moving on to what’s next,” Johnson said.

The dancer’s have refined their skills in class and spent countless hours practicing to put on a great concert.

One new member to the Gustavus Dance Company is Sophomore Psychology major Elizabeth Jasper. She went and saw the concert last year and was impressed.

“I thought it was amazing. It took my breath away,” Jasper said.

Now she is a part of the dance concert that will hopefully touch other people’s lives.

“The performances for the spring concert are moving, entertaining and inspiring,” Jasper said. “Please feel free to get a ticket for the Gustavus Dance Company’s show. I would love to see you there.”