Danielle Palladino
AT Journalism Student
AT has a long standing tradition of offering a variety of clubs and extracurricular activities for District 88 students. One club in particular stood out for its commitment to perseverance and passion through time and hardship during this pandemic
Orchesis club has not only successfully completed 53 years of expressing school spirit through dance but it has also done so through the difficult obstacles of the pandemic.
“You never know what’s going to happen. You just need to stay positive,” said Coach LeVonne Cescolini-Boyer Cescolini-Boyer or Cesco for short has coached Orchesis for 28 years.
Orchesis is a year round club that is dedicated to dance. Some members involved have been practicing dance since a young age. Orchesis offers bonding time with the team and boosts everyone’s confidence for dance. Auditions are being held at the end of the month for the show.
The main focus for Orchesis was the GoPink game and the Homecoming Pep Rally dance. These dances were worked on through the month of September. Through the pandemic Orchesis was still meeting on zoom calls every week. Practices were held and dances were being taught. “Zoom calls were very difficult to teach,” said Orchesis President Miabella DiGrazia.
Not only is DiGrazia the vice president for student council, she also dances twenty hours a week. “It is an honor to be the first junior in Addison Trail History to be the Orchesis President,” said DiGrazia.
The President of Orchesis also likes to bond with the team and help others out. During the pandemic practices were held on the football field and the girls were ready to dance. Dances online were very difficult to complete and work on.“I would record the girls and send them the video to see what they were doing wrong,” said Cesco.
This gave them a confidence boost to see what they looked like and what they can work on. Orchesis is working really hard to get things back to normal. The members are wearing masks to keep everyone safe on the team. “This is such a fun club to join and to be a part of,” said DiGrazia.
Overall, Orchesis gives dancers the opportunity to show off their skills and learn new techniques throughout the year. A show is performed at the end of April that the girls work on all year.
