To say that dance is popular at Gustavus would be an understatement. Many students on campus have dance background coming into college, or they tried out a class while here.

What is not common, is going above and beyond by declaring a dance honors major, which is exactly what Tom Damery, Allie Retterath, and Jordan Lovestrand have done and will showcase at the Dance Honors Showcase.

“I decided to pursue dance at Gustavus sort of unintentionally,” Retterath said. “I came in wanting to do a whole bunch of different things, and dance was just always there. I started dancing when I was very young, and it has always been a part of my life. I always get really irritable when I don’t dance for a long time, so I keep doing it.”

Lovestrand said he also came into dance a bit spontaneously. “I came into Gustavus as a Biology Major and Neuroscience Minor to become a Chiropractor,” Lovestrand said. “I was also recruited to run as a member of the Gustavus Track & Field team.

“However, after freshman orientation, I took Modern II with Sarah Hauss and danced in Johnny Bates’ duet ‘Holding On’ and Emileah Zumberge’s ‘Relations’. After those experiences, I was hooked.”

The concert is titled Kinesthesis and it promises to show dance in its most challenging, original, and technically advanced forms.

“Being involved in this concert has been incredibly challenging, but it has allowed me to grow a lot as a choreographer and director,” Retterath said.

“When your honors project proposal is accepted by the Theatre and Dance Department, you essentially get some monetary funding and an advisor, but the rest is up to you.”

For Damery, the concert represents his growth as a dancer during his time at Gustavus.

“I am performing a solo in the Honors Concert titled ‘Out’. My solo is a work in collaboration with choreographer Jordan Klitzke (Gustavus class of 2010),” Damery said.

“Being able to perform a solo by Klitzke in the honors concert is a culmination of my experience and growth over the past two years. I hope others will not be afraid to pursue what they enjoy in college, as I have found it to be beyond rewarding.”

For Lovestrand, this concert represents a dream he has had since his freshman year, as he remembers.

“My freshman year, I remember I met with Michele Rusinko, my advisor for the Dance Major, and asked her, ‘What are the chances that I can have my own dance concert my senior year?’

“Keep in mind, I had no prior dance experience before I came to Gustavus. Michele told me then that my idea was very big and she was uncertain that my concert idea would come to fruition, but now I get to co-direct Kinethesis with two other Honors students,” Lovestrand said.

The three honors students are doing more than just dance for the concert, they had to plan all the logistics themselves. That means that they had to find a stage manager, arrange lighting, sound, photography, and videography.

“There is so much that goes into a dance concert that most people don’t realize,” Retterath said.

Retterath will be dancing two pieces in the honors concert. The first is a solo, choreographed by Sarah Hauss, a Gustavus professor. The other is a duet choreographed in collaboration with both Hauss and Lovestrand over the summer.

“We performed it in ‘Dances at the Lakes’ in Minneapolis and in the Alumni Concert during Homecoming this year,” Retterath said.

Damery’s solo will engage the audience in questions deeper than dance alone.

“The solo is a collaborative focus on what it means to perform, as well as what it means to dance,” Damery said. “When does the boundary occur between effort and enjoyment of movement?”

Lovestrand will be dancing in several pieces in the concert.

“I am performing in three works: Allison Retterath’s group piece ‘Take Care, My Friend’; Melissa Rolnick’s solo ‘Adieu’; and Sarah Hauss’ Duet ‘Within Reach’. My choreography ‘Sig’ will be closing the Dance Honors Showcase,” Lovestand said.

Overall, the concert is bound to impress audiences. The students have put in countless hours in Kresge dance studio over their time here on the hill, and now it’s their time to show off what they have learned.