This year’s Gustavus Dance Company concert, directed by Professor of Theatre and Dance Michele Rusinko and Visiting Assistant Professor of Theatre and Dance Melissa Rolnick, features choreography by faculty members, students and nationally known guest artists.

Time to Soar: The Gustavus Dance Company in Concert will be performed in the Anderson Theatre on Friday, May 14 and Saturday, May 15 at 8:00 p.m. In addition, the will be a matinee on Sunday, May 16, at 2:00 p.m. This dance concert is open to the public and requires a ticket. Tickets are $7 for adults, $5 for students and seniors citizens and are free for Gustavus students and faculty. They are available at the Student Activities Office or the Ticket Center.

The opening piece of the Dance Concert, Un Dia, is choreographed by a former Gustavus professor, Cynthia Gutierrez-Garner. She previously taught at Gustavus for three years and has worked extensively with this year’s graduating seniors. The seniors decided as a group that they wanted to bring Cynthia back this year to set up a piece for them. She was able to come over Fall Break, and the seniors gave up their break to learn a piece from their beloved former professor. They worked with her eight hours a day and continued practicing by sending her video footage of the piece, through which she provided them with written feedback.

The piece was insipired by Gutierrez-Garner’s Latina heritage, and she began by researching about ancient Mayan and Aztec tales. She wanted to create a piece with a cultural perspective because she has not done this at Gustavus. The piece was inspired in part by the ancient past and the disconnected future of the descendents of the Maya and Aztecs. The piece focuses on the past, present and future, which resonantes with the 12 seniors performing this piece.

“I have hope for them, and this piece is almost like a blessing as they leave,” Gutierrez-Garner said.

Melissa Rolnick is one of the other artistic directors of the dance concert. As a part of the concert, Rolnick choreographed a piece titled Music for a While. This one piece is used as a series of solos, a duet and group sections that can be performed independently from each other. Each piece is different, but there is an underlying theme of grief and hope.

“It has been an emotional time for me, and the piece became about grief and hope. It was not what I had intended, but as I started to work on these pieces, things became revealed and it took on a life of its own,” Rolnick said. Adjunct Instructor of Theatre and Dance Andrea Gross created the costumes for Rolnick’s piece, which consist of silk dresses that are modest in design, allowing them to move with the dancer.

Jeffery Peterson, an adjunct instructor of theatre and dance, also choreographed two pieces for the Dance Concert titled A Ritmo and Divergence. A Ritmo is an Italian word that means rhythm, and this jazz work piece focuses on the movement of the music. It is based on a layered story line set in Europe where a group of people are headed out to a swanky club for a night out on the town.

This fun, upbeat work drastically contrasts with Peterson’s other piece, Divergence. Divergence is a modern piece based on polarized politics. It uses dissonant music and depicts a separated community through the lack of clear communication that is shown in the dancers’ gestures and eye contact. The piece is enhanced by the costumes designed by Junior Theatre Major Bobby Croghan.

Amalgamation is a piece co-choreographed by Senior Biology Major Jordan Klitze and Senior Dance and Chemistry Major Nina Serratore. The duet is set to a Kronos Quartet piece and is based on the journey of two people in a relationship.

“The inspiration [for this piece] originally came from a desire to explore partnering, and a relationship grew out of what we were creating. We ran with that relationship and created a piece that moves from two people meeting each other with a soft and happy mood to eventually becoming an aggressive, confused, frustrated relationship. The piece ends with a question as to what is going to happen next for the couple,” Klitzke said.

The costumes for this piece were created by Croghan. “The costumes add to the piece by creating an element of feminine versus masculine color.

The ripples in the material add to the rawness of the relationship. The exposure of skin eludes to the intimacy between the two dancers,” Serratore said.

Michele Rusinko is one of the artistic directors of the dance concert. She has been teaching at Gustavus for the past 22 years and has seen the amazing changes within the dance department. Rusinko first saw To Have and to Hold performed almost 20 years ago, which was choreographed by Danial Shapiro and Joanie Smith of the Sharpio and Smith Dance Company in the Twin Cities.

“In my 22 years of teaching, I finally have students who are strong enough to do this piece. It is technically hard and physically demanding,” Rusinko said. “You really don’t see many private liberal arts colleges’ dance programs that dance at the level we do. You see it in conservatory programs, [but] we have dancers at extremely high levels who are smart and are technically beautiful artists.”

This piece was choreographed in the ‘80s during the peak of the AIDS epidemic and is about love, loss and grief. To Have and to Hold is traditionally performed by three men, three women and three benches. This piece is beautifully crafted and physically demanding. Because of this, the piece has never been performed outside of the company and was set on the Gustavus dancers this year.

“The women dancers for this piece are double cast, so only six dancers perform the piece. We’ve been working intensely to get this one up to the level of professionalism, and we each love the piece and are devoted to making it the best it can be. We are honored to be able to use the original costumes and props from the company that they have used and performed in multiple times,” Senior Psychology and Dance Major Jill VanOsdol said.

VanOsdol choreographed a solo titled Dissonant Grace that is being performed by Ashley Narum and her on different nights. VanOdol’s piece was inspired by combining her majors of dance and psychology to create a piece about how the body struggles and is affected by mental diseases.

‘‘It has been wonderful to work with all of the other seniors on a final piece that we are able to bring a maturity to after years of dancing here at Gustavus.I encourage everyone to come and see what dance can be. It takes letting one’s mind be open to let the works speak to you, but it can be a refreshing reminder of what is exciting, meaningful and beautiful among the stress of classes in the bubble of St. Peter,” Klitzke said.