Orchesis troupes to put on showcase
While most 2-year-olds are still learning how to gracefully maneuver on two feet, Devvon Holst was taking her first dance lessons.
Fourteen years later, the Waubonsie Valley High School junior is still dancing, spending several hours every day perfecting her technique.
"I just kind of fell in love with it," she said.
Holst will perform Sunday, Nov. 23, with her school's Orchesis dance troupe, doing a piece titled "Resonance" by Chicago choreographer Melissa Thodos.
Her performance is part of the Fox Valley Dance Showcase, hosted this weekend by Waubonsie Valley's Orchesis. The show features Orchesis dance troupes from Waubonsie Valley and Neuqua Valley and Naperville Central high schools, along with a variety of area dance troupes.
"There're about 20 studios participating with all styles of dance, from hip-hop, to classical ballet to jazz and tap," said Georgia Salerno, artistic director of the Waubonsie Valley Orchesis group. "It's nice entertainment for the entire family."
The show, a fundraiser for Orchesis, also will feature Xtreme Dance Force, a dance troupe that appeared on America's Best Dance Crew, Salerno said.
"It's nice to see all that talent together," Holst said. "You see the variety of the dance and how talented everyone is in the different studios. It's a nice way to get everyone together."
Holst, 16, has been dancing with Orchesis, a school-based dance club, throughout her years at Waubonsie. She also dances with the Naperville-based School of Performing Arts and has competed with the Infinity Dance All Stars.
And last year, she said, she taught and choreographed dances for 7- to 12-year-old students enrolled in a gym-based class in Romeoville.
Her sister, Shannon, also began dancing at age 2, and is pursuing a degree in dance at the University of Iowa.
Holst said she prefers classical ballet, modern dance and lyrical dance, which she describes as "kind of like a mix of jazz and ballet."
She said she is contemplating going after a dance and psychology double major with an eye toward becoming a dance therapist.
A lot of people, she said, find dance therapeutic.
"It takes a lot of concentration," she said. "You have to be committed as well as passionate about dancing, depending on how far you go with it. It's not only understanding the moves, but understanding the technique. If you work with a choreographer, they all have different ideas of what they want the dance to look like."
<p class="factboxheadblack">If you go</p> <p class="News"><b>What:</b> Fox Valley Dance Showcase, presented by Waubonsie Valley High School's Orchesis Dance Troupe</p> <p class="News"><b>When:</b> 7:30 p.m. Nov. 22 and 3 p.m. Nov. 23</p> <p class="News"><b>Where:</b> Waubonsie Valley High School auditorium, 2590 Ogden Ave., Aurora</p> <p class="News"><b>Tickets:</b> $7</p> <p class="News"><b>Info:</b> (630) 375-3566 or <a href="http://www.ipsd.org" target="new">www.ipsd.org</a> </p>