About the Dance Companies
The St. Olaf College Dance Department Dance Companies are 2 faculty directed companies, Veselica and Companydance. Each provides pre-professional training, vocational skill development (in the dance field and beyond), and employable transferable skills while also serving as an extension of the dance faculty’s teaching and creative research.
The St. Olaf Dance Companies put into practice the values of the St. Olaf College Dance Department. These values include: Community and Connection, Collaboration, Curiosity, Creative Research, For All Bodies, Embodiment, and being able to talk about what we do to those outside of the dance field.
Students are encouraged to participate in the wide variety of dance experiences provided by both companies.
Students new to the college to the Dance Companies are involved in First Year Dance Project, which provides opportunities to work with each dance faculty member in a range of movement settings, while developing a sense of community and working toward a semester-end concert and an opportunity to be a part of the Spring Proscenium Stage Concert.
Companydance
Companydance©, open by audition to all students, is one of two faculty-directed companies within the dance department. Modeled to provide students with a pre-professional repertory dance company experience,Companydance cultivates student responsibility, creative collaboration, community building, creative research, and technical and expressive growth.
Companydance consists of a diverse range of separate projects, pieces, labs, and concerts including First-Year Dance Project, Senior Dance Capstone Concert, Studio Theater Concert (faculty, guest artist, and student choreographed dances), and Proscenium Stage Concert (faculty, guest artist, and student choreographed dances) and offers student dancers a wide variety of performing opportunities.
In preparing students for the expectations of the professional world, be it in dance or other fields, students participating in Companydance are expected to be fully present and engaged in the rehearsal process, and responsibly following through with all their company-related obligations.
Veselica International Dance Ensemble
Veselica International Dance Company is a performance and research collective dedicated to celebrating, preserving, and innovating traditional folk dances from around the world. Rooted in embodied and scholarly inquiry, Veselica fosters deep engagement with cultural practices, inviting dancers and audiences alike to connect with movement as a powerful tool for storytelling, inquiry and transformation inviting critical questions about culture, identity, and the transmission of tradition. We strive to honor the diverse origins of traditional dances while critically examining the ways culture and identity are shaped, shared, and reinterpreted through contemporary moving bodies. We are committed to rigorous research into the histories, contexts, and transformations of traditional dance forms, fostering respectful engagement with source communities and archival materials. Using innovative choreography, collaborative exchange, and inclusive practices, we aim to keep dance traditions vibrant and evolving – bridging past and present, research and performance, local and global, tradition and innovation. The company serves as a dynamic laboratory for cultural performance, where artistic expression, scholarship, and community come together to keep traditional dance vibrant, evolving, and deeply meaningful in a globalized world.
