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David Weaver gets strange looks when he practices a new dance step in the aisles at Dillons. Natalie VanDever gets weary of looking at herself in the mirror.

What seniors VanDever and Weaver have in common, they say, is that they are willing to make every sacrifice to be professional dancers.

Both are featured as Kit Kat chorus dancers in WSU’s musical theater performance "Cabaret" Dec. 2-5 at Wilner Auditorium.

Weaver also is rehearsing for four dances and VanDever, three, for the Kansas Dance Festival Nov. 19-20 in WSU’s Miller Concert Hall.

"Dancing takes dedication," says Weaver. "You’re constantly working at it and thinking about it all day, no matter what you’re doing."

VanDever agrees. "Movements are going through my head all the time." VanDever gets frustrated sometimes by the false perception that dance is easy or that it’s just for fun.

"It’s not unusual," says VanDever, "to dance 10 hours straight. "It’s not like we get on stage and then we’re done. There’s dance history, music for dance, dance kinesiology. There’s a lot of academic work involved."

Weaver trained in ballet at Friends University. When he began auditioning two years ago, directors were asking for modern and jazz.

"I realized that nowadays to get a job you pretty much have to be versatile and be able to do it all."

Weaver transferred to WSU’s dance program and says he’s "very impressed with the professionalism of the dance faculty here. I love the variety of what they offer."

Not only is the faculty dedicated, VanDever says, "They help students discover what the professional world is about and they are giving us exposure through performances, through working with top choreographers and through meeting guest artists."

The demands of the field are extremely difficult, says Nick Johnson, director of dance.

"A lot of people grow up and think they want to be dancers until they see what it really requires," says Johnson. "You have to love it for what it is, not for who you are going to become, and not for any amount of money you think you are going to earn. Dance is a labor of love and passion."

"I like exploring different characters," Weaver says. "When you’re on stage you’re somebody else, completely different. It’s a thrill."

Weaver says he strives for perfection. He gets nervous because "there’s tons of people watching you and you’re vulnerable. If you mess up, all these people see you do that. I’m a perfectionist and I’m kind of scared of failure."

Weaver knows what feeling vulnerable on stage is like.

In Wichita’s Music Theater performance of "Brigadoon," the chorus, including Weaver, was wearing kilts.

"Probably every dancer on stage heard the sound of pins snapping, just before I lost my kilt. All I had on underneath was my dance belt."

Weaver says he then did something very unprofessional.

"I stopped dancing, bent over, picked up my kilt and left the stage because I felt so embarrassed. I got chewed out for that."

So what should a dancer do when he loses his bottoms?

"Act like nothing happened and keep on dancing," he was told. "You never stop dancing."

After graduation in May, Weaver will continue auditioning and possibly attend a dance company school. VanDever plans to teach at middle and high school summer dance camps, then she’ll visit two friends who live in New York. Both friends graduated from WSU’s dance program and are doing very well getting small parts and working other jobs, she says.

Until then there are rehearsals, classes to attend, and theses to write.