Huntley dance team reaching for stars
Trophy after trophy line every inch of shelf space at Dance Force Studios in Huntley.
More golden awards, of various shapes and sizes, sit atop a table by the front door. Another group of honorary hardware spills onto on a ledge by the dressing room.
"We're running out of space for them," said studio owner Karen Fitzsimons, with a laugh.
"We have so many of them, we don't know where put them."
In addition to offering almost every type of dance class out there, Dance Force Studios is home to five competitive dance teams of girls ages 4 to 16.
The teams, particularly the Junior All-Star Elite, have been winning dance competitions in the hip hop and pom dance divisions at an unprecedented rate, Fitzsimons said.
"These are not your ordinary once-a-week dance classes," said Fitzsimons, who opened the studio four years ago after running the dance program for several years through the Dundee Township Park District. "The Elite team practices three or more times per week, with the goal of placing at the top at all competitions."
The Elite team includes 14 girls, who hail from all over the area, including Cary, Algonquin, West Dundee, Bull Valley and Huntley. The team has participated in nine competitions since January; some held locally and others as far away as Milwaukee, the Wisconsin Dells and Kentucky.
In total, the girls brought home eight first-place honors for hip hop; five first-place trophies for pom dance; various awards for choreography, artistic style and technique; two national titles; and three Grand Champion honors, the pinnacle of all honors.
While the girls make winning seem easy, there is a recipe for their success.
First, they are all extremely athletic and well-conditioned. Most have taken dance classes since they were 5 or 6 years old.
Unlike the studio's other teams, Elite team members must audition and earn their places. In addition, the coaches work constantly with the girls, perfecting every move and position. The studio hires a professional choreographer and a professional pom instructor to develop the team's competitive routines for the season.
While Dance Force coaches can pick as many girls as they like for their teams, they try to ensure the girls have the same talent level, so they deliver a great performance.
"We try to make them look like one person dancing," Fitzsimons said.
Since August, the girls have been practicing three times per week, often for two hours at a time.
The intensive training enables them to grow quickly as dancers and performers. What they learn, they will take to high school, as half the team members are preparing to try out next month for high school squads.
The Elite team has served as a feeder program to the high school teams, particularly the very successful Jacobs High School poms squad.
"My daughter has come a long way," said West Dundee resident Denise Martorano, whose daughter Alyssa, 13, competed with the Elite team this year. "The coaches have worked really hard to get these girls to this competitive level.
"My daughter has gained more here in one year than she got in four years at previous dance studios. That's what impressed me. The girls have to pour their hearts into this."
While many girls are happy just to dance, these kids thrive on the competitive aspect of the sport.
"I'm actually a very competitive person," said 14-year-old Alyssa Menolascino, an eighth-grader at Westfield Community School in Algonquin. "The coaches push you to the limit. It's quite a commitment. I've learned that -- but it's worth it. I love the competitions, I love the girls on my team, and I like meeting girls from other teams."
Fitzsimons, a sixth-grade teacher at Westfield, started coaching dance and poms teams 23 years ago while teaching at Dundee Middle School.
She eventually moved the program to the park district so girls from all schools could participate.
Paige Reconnu, a sixth-grade teacher who worked with Fitzsimons at the time, walked into a team practice about 10 years ago and was hooked.
"I came down to watch and basically got drawn into it," said Reconnu, who now teaches sixth grade at Barrington Middle School.
"Karen and I have a good partnership. What started in the school cafeteria has moved to this amazing studio. I enjoy working with the girls, and the competitions. It's that competitive streak that gets me -- trying to do better year after year."
Both Fitzsimons and Reconnu spend at least three nights per week at the studio, working with the dance team members.
Fitzsimons, a mom to three boys, ages 9, 11 and 13, who perform on the studio's boys hip-hop team, has had to "learn her way" into the sport.
Although she was on her high school pom-pom squad as a teen, she said today's poms are not like those of her day.
"These routines are really hard," Fitzsimons said. "The beat is a lot faster now than back then. It's so funny to see the fathers the first time they come to a competition. They're expecting what we had as teens, and they see these girls and they are blown away."
Fitzsimons and Reconnu have attended the training camps with the girls to learn the sport. They also learn from the professional choreographers they've hired, and have spent many hours reading up on the sport.
Dance Force Studios also has a Mini Pom/Hip Hop team for girls ages 8 and younger; a Youth Pom/Hip Hop team for girls ages 11 and younger; and a Junior Poms/Hip Hop team for those ages 14 and younger. These teams compete locally.
The studio also offers multiple genres of dance classes, including funk, ballet, jazz, creative movement, modern dance, and boys hip-hop and break dancing. For adults, the studio has tango, theater dance, hip-hop and ballroom dance classes.
The studio is at 11255 Kiley Drive in Huntley. More information is available by calling (224) 569-2563 or at www.danceforce studios.com. Registration for the 2008-2009 dance team season starts in April.
Dance Force Junior All-Star Elite team
Algonquin: Brie Fireng, Caitlin Lischka, Alyssa Menolascino
Bull Valley: Kyle Vassos
Cary: Megan Cummings, Olivia Flowers, Anna Walsh, Kelly Walsh
Huntley: Alexa Godfrey, Kinsey Wright
West Dundee: Alyssa Martorano, Brooke Mertens, Jamie Rhode, Julie Rhode