Springfield dance group highlights free Kuss Memorial Concert

The Gary Geis School of Dance and Gary Geis Dance Company will perform a variety of dances during Saturday's annual Richard L. and Barbara D. Kuss Memorial Concert at the Clark State Performing Arts Center. The event is free, but tickets are required to attend.

The Gary Geis School of Dance and Gary Geis Dance Company will perform a variety of dances during Saturday's annual Richard L. and Barbara D. Kuss Memorial Concert at the Clark State Performing Arts Center. The event is free, but tickets are required to attend.

Homegrown talent will take center stage at one of the season’s most beloved free shows made possible by some of Springfield’s most prominent patrons of the arts.

The 2024 Richard L. and Barbara D. Kuss Memorial Concert will offer a range of dances by Springfield’s own Gary Geis School of Dance and Gary Geis Dance Company at 6:30 p.m. Saturday at the Clark State Performing Arts Center.

Admission is free, but tickets are required for admission. The event is presented by the Clark State Performing Arts Center (PAC) with the support of the Carleton F. and Ruth Davidson Trust.

Dan Hunt, executive director of the PAC, said this year’s show is especially important as the facility’s main theater is known as The Kuss Auditorium and this is the venue’s 30th anniversary.

“We are so very happy to see the return of the Richard L. and Barbara D. Kuss Memorial Concert,” said Hunt. “They were so absolutely instrumental to the building of the PAC. They continued to be avid audience concert goers throughout their lives and with their generous gifts, and they asked us to offer an annual free concert to the community.”

Attendees will see a variety of dance, including ballet, jazz, modern, tap, student choreography and more. They may also see dancers on their way up to making it a career.

“We are so excited for Saturday’s performance and feel incredibly honored to be chosen for the Kuss Memorial Concert,” said Celina Schroer, ballet mistress of the Gary Geis School of Dance and co-director of the Dance Company. “We believe in quality dance training and education for all. Audience members can expect to see these dance styles performed by students ages 3-adult.

“Our pre-professional dance company and tap ensembles will be performing new works choreographed by myself and my co-director Mark Cummings, as well as resident and student choreographers. This concert has something for everyone.”

Free tickets are available online at the Clark State PAC website, pac.clarkstate.edu/shows/2023-2024-season/.

HOW TO GO

What: The Richard L. and Barbara D. Kuss Memorial Concert

Where: Clark State Performing Arts Center, 300 South Fountain Ave., Springfield

When: 6:30 p.m. Saturday, May 4

Admission: free; tickets required for admission

More info: pac.clarkstate.edu/shows/2023-2024-season/

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