Morrison native overcomes injuries to dance 'Faust' in Chicago

MORRISON – Dancer Sunny Kallas has been through a little bit of hell, so perhaps it’s appropriate that the 29-year-old Morrison native is starring in a devil of a dance production.

“Faust – The Devil Comes In Many Pleasing Forms” opens tonight and returns next Thursday at Stage 773 in Chicago. Kallas, a member of The Massive, a Chicago dance company, will play three characters.

In the spring of 2010, though, Kallas thought she might never dance again.

The Morrison High School grad earned her bachelor’s degree in theater with an emphasis in dance from Illinois State University in 2005. After college, she took jobs in retail, retail management and also taught group fitness classes.

But her dream always was to dance.

“I really wanted to get back into dancing,” she said. “Not that I had totally left it ... taking classes here or there is not like performing. I started realizing all my friends had auditions.”

She auditioned for Innervation Dance Cooperative in March 2010, and was hired as a contract dancer for the show. On vacation in Georgia soon after, a month before the show was to begin, she was in a terrible motorcycle accident that left her in a wheelchair for 3 weeks and out of work for 2 months.

“I ended up in Morrison with Mom taking care of me for a month and a half,” Kallas said. “I really thought I could never dance again. I hadn’t performed since I was out of school. It was tough.

“Where there’s a will, there’s a way.”

Kallas slowly got back on her feet and rejoined Innervation. Before long, she was ready for a challenge and auditioned for a new company, Chicago-based The Massive.

Her performances tonight and next week are being called “Sunny Thursdays” in honor of her featured roles.

“Faust” will employ a variety of dance styles.

“This is very eclectic – hip-hop, modern, ballet,” she said. “I think that’s why the show works so well. There is so much hard-hitting movement.

“On the other hand, people are doing flips and running around the stage.”

Kallas identifies herself as a modern dancer.

“The reason why I love modern dance so much is because you can tell a story,” she said. “You get wrapped in it. It’s 100 percent live Chicago theater.”

Dance will remain in her future, Kallas said.

“Somewhere down the line, I’d like to open a dance studio.”

Kallas credits two Morrison teachers as being among her biggest influences: Anne Petersen was her dance teacher from age 4 until high school, where Anne Frame was her drama and English teacher.

Frame, who taught for 32 years and now is retired, remembers Kallas fondly.

Kallas is a “wonderful dancer” and “an engaging young woman, great energy, wonderful disposition,” Frame said. “That’s why they call her Sunny.”

She says it’s Kallas’ time to shine.

“She’s put in her time grinding away,” she said. “Being in the arts is not an easy profession. You’ve got to be in the right place at the right time.

“She’s due.”

Do you know an area up-and-comer in the arts and entertainment world? Let us know. Email showtime@saukvalley.com or call Kathleen Schultz, 815-625-3600, ext. 528.

For more information

Sunny Kallas is the daughter of Jill and Wade Kaufman of Morrison, and Andrew Kallas of Milledgeville.

Go to the-massive.com for "Faust" showtime and ticket information, or to learn more about her dance troupe, The Massive.