Geneva, Neuqua Valley tops in dance championship
Suburban teams led the way Saturday at the finals of the Illinois High School Association's competitive dance tournament, claiming the top three places in the Class 2A and 3A divisions after an afternoon filled with hard-hitting routines.
Among Class 2A schools, Geneva High School's dance team made it clear that they are the champions. They won the state title for the second straight year, under head coach Amy VanWagenen, after nailing a contemporary jazz routine, set to “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” from the second movie in the “Hunger Games” trilogy.
Wearing flowing pink costumes, the dancers pulled off difficult pirouettes, flips and aerials — and all in perfect unison.
“All of our girls are trained dancers, and I think their level of difficulty and technical ability really showed,” Van Wagenen. “We're so excited. We're on top of the world.”
The state runners-up were from Libertyville High School, making its first appearance in the finals, with the lyrical routine set, ironically, to the music “Impossible” by James Arthur.
Rounding out the top three finishers in Class 2A were the Warriors from Lincoln Way West, who performed a hard hitting, hip hop routine.
Large school competition in the Class 3 A division proved just as dramatic, with the Nequa Valley Wildcats edging last year's champions, the Lake Park Lancers for the state title. Lake Zurich, making its first appearance in the state finals, placed third.
Neuqua Valley's dancers showed their classical training with their lyrical routine set to the music “Have a Little Faith in Me,” sung by Tess Boyer. After finishing with the highest score in the preliminary round, the Wildcats came back to pull off a nearly flawless performance under the direction of head coach Sonja Rzeszutko.
“Our choreography was sort of unique, since every single girl contributed to the routine,” Rzeszutko said. “They each took an eighth count and gave their own input. And it all came together.”
Among small schools in Class 1A, the Mahomet-Seymour High School Bulldogs won the division, while Aurora Central Catholic placed eighth.
Here's where other suburban schools finished in the rankings.
Class 2A: 4. Lakes Community; 5. Vernon Hills; 6. Crystal Lake Central; 8. Fenton; 9. Wheaton St. Francis.
Class 3A: 4. Stevenson; 5. Barrington; 7. Glenbard North; 8. Fremd; 9. Mundelein; 10. Bartlett.
The competition played out at U.S. Cellular Coliseum in Bloomington, where 90 teams from across the state earned their way to Friday's preliminaries, before the top 30 squads — or the highest scoring 10 from each division — advanced to Saturday's finals.
Routines ran the gamut from flowing lyrical numbers, demonstrating dancers' classical ballet training, to traditional pom and kick routines, to jazz and hip hop selections that displayed powerful athleticism in their choreography.
Music selections were equally as eclectic — and entertaining — for the crowd. They ranged from the Andrews Sisters' “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy,” used by Lakes Community High School, to music from the soundtrack of “Batman: The Dark Night,” used by Minooka High School, as well as the theme song from the “Hunger Games” movies, portrayed by Fenton High School.