Welcome to the Show: Orchesis 2019

The second weekend of April brought a series of shows presented by our very own dance company, Orchesis. On the night of April 12, 2019, the start of the spring series of Orchesis in Laird Hall brought a packed house and a sold-out crowd of students, faculty, staff, and even local parents that were interested along with the parents of the performers in Orchesis.
To begin the show, there were a lot of different songs and dances that highlighted the show. Songs like “River Run” by Kehlani, “Stand by Me” by Ben King, “Freaky Friday” by Chris Brown, and “Undecided” by Chris Brown topped a number of songs to go along with the amazing performances that highlighted the night.
For a show that lasted anywhere between fifty to seventy-five minutes, it was well worth it. On a sad note, it was a last show for many performers that were seniors. One senior that made sure she went out with a bang was Ashley Henderson ’19. Participating in almost everyone of the performances, Henderson did at least one videography, choreography, and dance in

Orchesis Member solo

each of the three sections.
“We have been rehearsing since January, so it took a lot for everybody to be prepared,” Henderson ’19 said. “It was all about hard work and dedication.”
Orchesis is something that all of the performers and dancers in the club are very passionate about and is something that they enjoy doing all of the time.
“The best part about being in Orchesis is being able to perform and hear everybody cheering you on, and when people come up to me after the show and tells me how much they enjoyed it, I love it,” the senior dance performer
mentioned.
One other key dance performer that was involved in a lot of the show was Sami Heckendorn ’20, who has been dancing all of her life. She talked about how much practice she put into this performance.
“Every Monday we had rehearsal for our group piece for two or more hours per week,” Heckendorn said. “We also spent a lot of time with the professors working on our surprise in the group piece.”
For someone who has been dancing all her life and looking for dance opportunities out of high school, this performance was something that made Sami happy.
“The best part of being in Orchesis is performing,” Heckendorn stated. “I have been dancing all my life and when I graduated high school, I thought that my dancing career was basically done but Orchesis allows me to continue to dance and watch all the variety of dances that we have.”
As the show was closing, the finale titled “Thanks for Coming!” was one of the biggest highlights of the event. Faculty and staff came out onto the stage and dance to numerous hip-hop and pop songs. This moment mesmerized the crowd and was a great way to end a great show.
In terms of performances for next fall and spring, Orchesis’ plan is to expand everything that went on this spring.
“I think the future of Orchesis will continue to add depth and different varieties so that will keep the audience engaged,” Henderson mentioned.
President Sami Heckendorn is very optimistic about the future. She mentioned that, “Next year we plan to keep expanding what we are doing and keep pushing boundaries of what styles of dances we can do.”
Anyone willing to join Orchesis for the next or upcoming years can join by contacting Megan Mizanty at Megan.Mizanty@wilson.edu or one of the Orchesis officers who are Sami Heckendorn, Lauren Monahan, Emily Clark, Lauretta Birabwa, and Ash Henderson.

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