Calling all dancers to the stage, it’s the season of Orchesis!
It’s that time of the fall semester when students who are a part of the Orchesis Dance Company are operating in full swing to prepare for the dance production at the end of the month.
Orchesis is an all inclusive, student run organization with the goal of putting together dance performances every fall.
This year, the performances will be based on the theme “Golden Age” inspired by 1960s old Hollywood.
Orchesis does not have a specific dance style, rather it is a collection of performances at a variety of levels.
“We do everything from beginner to intermediate to advanced levels of different styles of dance,” said Beth Ma, ’26, administrative secretary of Orchesis. “This year we have ballet, contemporary, lyrical, modern, hip hop, jazz and tap.”
The administrative secretary acts as the liaison between Allegheny’s campus and the board, with the goal of reaching out to both the campus and the community to advertise the shows.
“My job is to make sure they know what is going on, and I also create the program for the show so I reach out to family members for shoutouts for the dancers,” Ma said.
This is her first year on board, but her third year as a part of Orchesis.
Ma was voted in November last year after the show, and has served since, though the organization takes a back seat during the spring semester, since Orchesis is a fall show.
“We don’t really do much the first few months,” sMa said. “It’s mostly prep work in the spring.”
Elections take place every year during the show, as soon as curtains close votes get announced, Ma said. There are around 10-12 positions on the board, and once you are elected, you serve for the entire year afterwards.
Ma says her job is done when the show is done, and a new board is announced.
As for the show this year, there are a variety of shows under the theme of “Golden Age.”
“Think old Hollywood,” Ma said. “Lots of glitz and glam.”
The shows will include pieces such as an intermediate dance ballet piece, choreographed by Liv Pollice, ’26, to “Overture” from “Phantom of the Opera”; an advanced modern piece choreographed by Margo, to “Somebody I Used to Know” by Gotye; a ballet piece choreographed by Jayne Seth, ’26, to “Pure Imagination” from “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory”, and an advanced tap dance choreographed by Liz Driscoll, ’25, to songs from the musical “Godspell.”
They are also performing a musical theater piece in which half the dancers will be doing tap, while the other half performs jazz. Ma said that this piece will allow for students who haven’t danced before, or who want to try dancing in new styles, to try them out.
“Musical theater lets them kind of combine those two [styles] in a more ‘chill’ introduction rather than going at a very advanced pace,” Ma said.
As a student run organization, the student who choreographs the piece is also responsible for holding practices for that dance. Each dance practice is one hour a week, and the practices span over eight weeks.
“I’m so excited to show off my piece,” said Sara Margo, ’26, choreographer for the advanced modern piece “Cut you off” to the song “Somebody that I used to know”. “I’ve had this vision for so long and I’m excited for everyone to see it so it’s not just in my brain anymore, it’s out there!”
Margo has been a part of Orchesis for all of her three years at Allegheny. She has quite a bit of experience choreographing throughout high school for musicals, and also was a part of her high school marching band as a majorette, and choreographed a lot of the routines there.
Once at Allegheny, Margo moved away from musical theater choreography and started to explore more modern dance.
“I really take inspiration from other pieces of media,” Margo said. “I have loved the music video [‘Somebody I Used to Know’] ever since it came out, so I’ve always wanted to do a piece surrounding that.”
Margo choreographed her piece to reflect the interactions of the man and woman’s duet in the song. She also ordered costumes that reflect her vision of the video.
“I always love Sarah’s choreography, it’s always super fun and funky because it’s modern,” said Orchesis President Sarah Allison, ’25.
Allison is in three dances this year, a hip hop piece choreographed by Olivia Colflesh, ’26; Margo’s modern piece and a lyrical/ballet piece choreographed by Lily Konz, ’25.
“I’m excited for all of them, they’re all wonderful choreographers, all different and unique in their own way which I admire,” said Allison.
Allison has been a part of Orchesis since her freshman year, when she was one of only two first-years to join the company.
“It’s cool to see the progress,” Allison said. “Now we have more freshmen, and this year I really tried to create a demographic where we could get more freshmen and make sure that people weren’t intimidated to come and try out because it’s supposed to be very inclusive, even if you have no dance experience.”
Extending outreach and bringing in more dancers is a main focus of the company this year. Allison said that both herself and the rest of the board are very passionate about the fact that Orchesis is open to anyone.
Likewise, as Administrative Secretary, Ma worked to make sure that information about Orchesis was marketed to first-year students, such as the no-cut policy.
Orchesis is one of the three main dance opportunities on campus: Orchesis, Jazz Dance Ensemble (JADE) and the Allegheny Dance Team.
Orchesis is meant to be the more introductory dance level experience compared to the others.
It is also all encompassing and does not specialize in one style of dance.
Students don’t perform all year, only the fall semester.
“That first semester for a lot of people is super busy, getting back into the swing of things, but it [Orchesis] really isn’t too big of a commitment,” Ma said. “You can always just do one dance and not three. I’m not doing three this year, it’s a lot of work.”
After auditions, a student might not get to do all the dances they sign up for, but they are guaranteed at least one dance.
“It’s low risk, high reward,” said Ma.
Auditions take place the first week of classes. This past August, the involvement fair was Thursday and the auditions took place the following Saturday and Sunday.
Sunday is for actual auditions and performances of the pieces in front of the choreographers, while Saturday is more so just watching and teaching.
“Saturday is very chill, you show up and learn some short excerpts of pieces, maybe 30 seconds of pieces in different styles,” Ma said.
However, students are not able to join the production late.
“There are so few practices,” Ma said. “They’re learning an entire dance in eight hours essentially, because it’s just one hour of practice a week.”
Ma explained that if students were to come in at hour four or five of practice, they would be at a disadvantage. They might not be in sync with the rest of the group, and it also places difficulty on the choreographers who would have to re-choreograph the formations to add an additional dancer.
Overall, that is another reason why members of Orchesis work to spread word about the company early on.
Allison said she wants more people to give Orchesis a try, as the hardwork and dedication that herself, the board, choreographers, technicians and stage crew put into the show are what builds community as a student run organization.
This year’s show will run from Oct. 31 until Nov. 2. Doors open a half hour before showtime at 7 p.m. in the Shafer Auditorium. Admission is free and all are welcomed.