Featured Team: Hersey
by Norm Ramil / 8ca.music.person & dance.fan
Time for another round of Illinois dance trivia. Name a team that didn’t get to Bloomington but did dance in Orlando at Nationals, and stunned the rest of their high-powered dance conference along the way.
Of course it’s the Hersey Poms! If you don’t know much about this underrated program, read on. And if you’re peeking around on social media, keep in mind that the team sometimes goes by JHHS Poms (thanks to John Hersey, if you want to keep things formal). First up, some details on this classy dance program:
Official Team Name:
Hersey Poms and Dance Team (school mascot: Huskies), Arlington Heights, IL
Class:
IHSA 2A
Conference:
Mid-Suburban League
Coaches:
Varsity: Tracy Dudzik (outgoing), Marli Levin (incoming)
JV: Coach Levin (2018-19 before being promoted to Varsity head coach)
Team Breakdown:
12 on the floor for comp routines; 20 for football
When they weren’t dancing, the Hersey dancers kept up a busy but fun schedule. They held a September car wash, did a full slate of community service projects, and even squeezed in a Zumba session. By the time I got to visit with them, Hersey had already competed at Fremd and Lake Zurich (JV).
At a December weeknight practice I met the force behind the program, outgoing coach Tracy Dudzik. Her skillful coaching helped Hersey gain a solid foothold as a member of the elite Mid-Suburban League (“MSL” if you’re in the know). Weeknight practices can be notoriously mellow, so I appreciated how her upbeat personality kept the mood energetic for her dancers.
Thirteen dancers were busy making adjustments to their jazz routine as I walked into practice. With the Glenbrook South competition coming up that weekend, Coach Dudzik had her athletes focus on cleaning the first minute of the routine in groups. It was the kind of dance that, at key moments, could potentially look wimpy if not done with force…so Coach Dudzik used the top of the bleachers to get a judges’ view. Her first bit of feedback? “Chin up!”
I also witnessed how careful they were with all the details: matching, facings, facials, and even their positions during the unaccented moments of a given 8-count. The Hersey dancers collaborated on changes, with their coach demo-ing the updated move at the top of those wobbly bleachers to the amazement of her team.
All that attention to detail paid off. Hersey earned a 2nd place finish at Glenbrook South. A month later, dancing among the heavyweights in the MSL conference at Wheeling, Hersey captured an eye-opening 3rd place conference finish.
The Hersey dancers faced an almost superhuman challenge at sectionals. Of the 6 teams that came out of Warren’s 2A field, all of them ended up dancing on Day 2 of IHSA State. Hersey’s IHSA season wrapped up after the Warren sectional, but then the dancers brought their skills to UDA Nationals at Disney on February 1st.
Post-practice convo with Coach Dudzik, Elen, Becca, and Maria
What’s everyone’s dance backgrounds?
E: I did poms in middle school, it wasn’t really anything serious. It wasn’t until my freshman year that I started taking dance more seriously.
B: I danced at Arlington Heights Park District my whole life. I did dance company there for 5 or 6 years.
M: I started at Des Plaines Park District when I was 3 and I danced there until I was 14. I was on their company. Then I went to Arlington Heights Park District and I was on their company for a year.
Coach D: I started training when I was 5, and I went to Fremd High School and was on their dance team.
Favorite style of dance to perform?
E: Pom.
B: Hip hop.
M: Contemporary.
Coach: Probably hip hop.
Favorite style to watch?
E: Hip hop.
B: Pom.
M: Pom.
Coach: Hip hop.
Is there a team skill that you guys are all really good at?
E: We’ve all got different talents…
M: …different strengths.
Coach: We have a wide background of training, so I think it’s nice that each dancer kind of brings their own flair.
E: Tilts, during football season?
M: Yeah, we did a lot of tilt jumps. Calypsos.
B: We’re really good at talking through the dance, helping each other out.
Coach: Working together. That’s one of my favorite things about this team, the way that they lean on each other, and how they use that to get them through the dance.
What’s something you want to work on that you’re pretty good at, but that you want to get really good at?
(everyone): Secondes!
B: Discs!
What’s the best part about being on this team?
M: It’s such a family atmosphere. It’s awesome; we’re really close.
E: We see each other every day…
M: Also our coach is amazing, she’s like our best friend.
Are you guys fans of other teams?
E (and everyone): Geneva, Maine South.
M: West Chicago, they’re our friends…
Coach: …we met them at UDA.
What’s one thing you want people to know about your team?
M: We are ready to fight. We’ve never been to state, so that’s our goal this year. We’ve been working so hard or tirelessly.
B: We’re sort of like a new team. Once Dudzik got here, that’s when it all changed.
E: Poms really got a lot better…it’s because of our coach.
Coach: It’s because of you guys! Half the girls on this team have never competed with us before. We lost 10 seniors last year, so we really are starting from a new level. This is our first year we’ve had a turnover like that. So it’s definitely [about] teaching the competitive level and bringing everyone together in a new way.
One last thing:
I recently asked the Hersey captains to look back on Hersey’s season and share their thoughts:
This season was so full of so many ups and downs. We placed in the top 3 at the MSL conference, which has never happened before! We unfortunately did not place as well as we would’ve hoped at sectionals which was very hard for us as we all worked so hard that week and felt as though our performance was one of the best from the season. But we still had nationals after that! We brought 3 routines to nationals and had a blast competing as well as bonding together. We watched the best teams from the US and it was so inspiring to watch.
This was our varsity coach’s, Tracy Dudzik, last season and when she told us, we were heartbroken. However, she has done so much for this program and for that we are all forever grateful for her!
The varsity team will be taken over by our JV coach, Marli Levin, who we know has what it takes to continue to grow this program. The seniors cannot wait to see what this team does next year!!!
