Orchesis members to show off skills in spring concert

For the 36th year, Rolling Meadows High School Orchesis dancers, under the direction of Regina Good, have made it to State. In this case, State is the 2015 Illinois High School State Dance Festival Student Choreography Showcase (known as the Festival), marking the 36th time in the 37 years of the Festival that Rolling Meadows High School will be present.

Although this is possibly the most impressive high school record in the state of Illinois, in typical dance fashion, the accolade goes unnoticed. The dancers at Rolling Meadows High School focus on artistry and production, not wins and losses.

The Festival annually gathers a select group of Illinois high school dancers for a day of dance, including master classes, working with a professional company and performing in the student showcase. This year's Festival takes place Saturday, May 9, at Adlai E. Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire.

The Festival committee held auditions in February. Many applied and auditioned, but 12 schools were selected based on the quality of the pieces the students choreographed and performed.

For Rolling Meadows High School Orchesis, participation in the dance Festival is an honor and a tradition. The Rolling Meadows High School student choreographers of this year's showcase piece, Michelle Matuszek and Robin Olson, fretted over every aspect of the dance.

They did not want this year to be the first year in Rolling Meadows High School audition history that the school was not selected for the elite Festival performance. Rolling Meadows High School dancers first auditioned in 1985, the second year of the Festival. They have performed at the Festival every year since.

For Rolling Meadows High School dancers, the road to the Festival is a long one. In December, each of the 43 dancers were required as part of their curriculum to choreograph two or more dances to present to their peers and the director, Regina Good. The students selected music (no pop recordings allowed) and worked on a concept of what their dance represented.

They then choreographed individually, or in small groups, approximately two minutes of the dance. Based on the presentations, the dancers selected the pieces that will form their spring concert.

The dancers voted on which pieces to audition for the Festival and selected two. The choreographers of these pieces face the additional pressure of not just preparing their dancers for the spring concert, but auditioning for the Festival.

Choreography projects form a key component to Good's teachings. The Rolling Meadows High School spring concert is student directed and choreographed from start to finish, with the exception of a special piece for the graduating seniors, which is set by Good. Known as "Senior Goods," this dance is the highlight of senior year for the dancers.

No outside companies or paid choreographers work on this show. It is truly an expression of what the students develop under Good's tutelage and expertise.

Dancers are cast in the dances based on their stated preferences, their seniority based on their year in high school and their time on Orchesis (an auditioned based class and club at the high school), and the number of dancers that the piece needs to fulfill the choreographer's vision.

Costuming the dancers also plays an integral part of the process. Good seeks to focus her students on imagining the performance on stage and to imagine the dancers moving to the piece. Armed with imagination and little else, the choreographers and their fearless leader Good take a trip to fabric store in Chicago that offers bargains on yardage.

The choreographers work with Good to design a simple costume that the dancers will cut and sew themselves. While some store bought pieces, like cut up and redesigned T-shirts, are worked into the mix, the majority of what graces the stage comes out of the imagination of the choreographers and Good and fabric purchased on the annual buying trip.

The choreographers have to calculate the yardage needed to provide for their dancers and keep track of the costs of the materials to stay within their minuscule budget.

According to Good, the dancers need to learn how to stage a high quality show without spending a fortune. Good knows that the dancer's world is one of artistry and hard work, not big money. She is working to teach her dancers how to create a production from start to finish on a budget. These are more than dancer skills, these are life skills.

It is not just her dancers that work to create the show based on this vision, their parents work steadily behind the scenes to support the group. If you think you know dance moms, think again. As the show approaches, their efforts peak on two '"Super Saturdays" leading up to the festival audition. In a flurry of activity, parents invade Rolling Meadows High School armed with tape measures, sewing machines, food and good cheer.

A buffet for 43 dancers serving up breakfast, lunch, snacks, and dinner is gathered from food donations from each of the 43 families. Moms and dads work the buffet or station themselves in the visitor locker room where they help kids cut, pin, sew and iron costumes. Patiently guiding the dancers who have no background in sewing, and giving a hand where needed to the kids who are old pros at costuming, these Super Saturday warriors assist the dancers to bring their vision to life.

The hard work of the dancers, Good, parent volunteers and other supporters of the program culminates in the spring concert, this year titled "Exquisite," March 5, 6 and 7 at Rolling Meadows High School's Gilbert Theater at 7:30 p.m. and once again this year the Festival.

The show promises to provide artistry, imagination and really good dancing. But more than that, the dancers of Rolling Meadows High School will take away life skills that go beyond the stage.

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