Featured Team: Prospect
by Norm Ramil / 8ca.music.person & dance.fan
Quick, name a few teams that have gone to IHSA state in each of the past 5 seasons. Prospect doesn’t automatically pop into your head, but they’re proudly on that list. The 2018-19 season was the first for new coach Katina (Tole) Frericks, and the program’s success rolled on, uninterrupted.
I got to visit with the team at a football game, fall practice, and again at a February showcase for the school’s orchesis program. First up, some basics about the team:
Official Team Name:
Prospect Dance Team (school mascot: Knights), Mt. Prospect, IL
Class:
IHSA 3A
Conference:
Mid-Suburban League
Coaches:
Katina (Tole) Frericks, 1st season, math teacher at Prospect. Danced on the Crystal Lake South Dance Team (class of ’13).
Melanie Monnich, 1st season, dance teacher at Prospect. Danced on the Rolling Meadows Orchesis (class of ’13).
Team Breakdown:
3 seniors, 4 juniors, 4 sophomores, 3 freshmen
Coach Frericks, back when she was Coach Tole before getting married on Thanksgiving weekend, explained her program’s backstory to me during the 1st half of a late September game. She’d just taken over a program that didn’t yet exist a handful of years ago. Kristin Burton started up the Prospect Dance program around 2014 and I immediately noticed them at competitions. Scroll down for their state resumé, but if your thumb’s lazy, let’s just say that Coach Burton brought her new program to IHSA state every year from 2015-18. And over the years I started to be able to pick them out of a crowd at comps with their snazzy, cleanly-designed warmups!
Coach Tole helped out with the team during their ’17-’18 campaign, the one where they danced on Day 2 of IHSA state. She officially took the helm this past summer, and her dancers were among the elite teams at the UDA camp at Pheasant Run in St. Charles over the summer. By her side is Assistant Coach Melanie Monnich, an alum of Rolling Meadow’s noteworthy orchesis program and herself the director of Prospect’s orchesis.
You don’t get a chance to really learn about a team amidst the craziness of a Friday night football game, so I came back a couple weeks later to watch a practice. Like other teams, the Prospect dancers managed to get a lot done in their limited time after school: reviewing sidelines, running through a halftime dance, going over the kids camp routine and all the details about Friday night’s game with their 80 mini-guest dancers. The end wrapped up with a conditioning session led by Assistant Coach Monnich. No cheating and tons of mutual support, since the workout was in one big circle!
The Prospect dancers sailed through comp season with a lot of class and elegance thanks to a beautiful lyrical routine. I got to see the dance evolve from its early form at the Wheaton North competition (November 11th) right through a charming performance at Rolling Meadows (January 12th). A little proof of the power of their routine: I wasn’t a gigantic fan of their song, but after watching what they did with it, that Celine ballad found its way onto one of my Spotify playlists. These dancers are like that good friend of yours who turned you into a kale fan after declaring you didn’t like it.
Back in the fall I asked the seniors what they hoped to accomplish this season. At the top of their lists were a trip to IHSA state and a run at the conference title. The MSL comp wasn’t easy with so many elite teams on the floor that night (Prospect tied for 5th), but the Prospect dancers did earn a 4th at their sectional, ahead of a team that would eventually dance on Day 2.
I wasn’t done with my Prospect fix once the team graced the marley floor in Bloomington with their lovely lyrical routine (they finished 20th on Day 1). It’s no surprise that the team has a great relationship with orchesis, with lots of members crossing over. Dance team seniors Elle and Bridget invited me to check out their showcase. I caught the Valentine’s night show and it was fantastic to see how their dance team talents have strong roots in studio-style, technically savvy expertise. These ladies were legit artists that just happened to be great in an IHSA dance setting, so it was fitting to watch them wind down the season on a stage.
I spoke with some of the Prospect dancers last fall and here’s what I found out about their dance experiences and what it’s like being part of Prospect Dance:
Lily, Brianna (freshmen)
Dance backgrounds?
L: I did regular dance classes, ballet, jazz, hiphop, at McDonald Dance Company in Arlington Heights for 7 years. And then I did a competitive company for the park district, and then I stopped when I got to high school and now I’m doing this.
B: I’ve just danced at the Mt. Prospect Park District. I’ve done camps at places like Visceral and Giordano.
Favorite style of dance to perform?
L: Hip hop.
B: Contemporary.
Favorite style to watch?
L: I really like to watch contemporary.
B: Hip hop.
What’s it like to be a freshman on this team?
L: All of the girls are really welcoming, and I don’t feel any different , like any social class different. We’re all really close so it’s really fun.
B: I agree but they definitely get more upset if a freshman forgets to do something. They expect more.
Elizabeth, Grace (sophomores)
Dance backgrounds?
G: We grew up dancing together. I’ve been dancing since I was 2.
E: And we were on the dance company [Vibe Dance Company of the Arlington Heights Park District] together for 5 years before high school.
Favorite style of dance to perform?
G: I think my favorite style is probably contemporary.
E: It’s contemporary, or pom, just because of the energy and the football crowd, it’s fun.
To watch?
E: Hip hop.
G: Hip hop is really exciting to watch. It’s like a nice break.
E: I agree. Like Lake Zurich last year at state, that was so good, that was my favorite.
Best part about being on this team?
G: I really like the bond that we all share, like even for newcomers it’s easy to just talk with anybody. It’s nice having that commonality of dance.
E: I think that captains do a really good job of trying to include everybody. We do stuff outside of practice; we do like TP-ing and bonfires, stuff like that…it’s really fun.
G: It helps us bond.
Other teams you’re fans of?
G: Geneva…
E: Geneva is a big one for us.
G: Amy choreographed our dance…I just love her style.
What should the rest of the Illinois dance community know about you guys?
G: People should know that Prospect works very hard and that we’re a force to be reckoned with.
Lauren, Evelyn (juniors)
Tell us about your dance backgrounds.
L: I started dance pretty late in sixth grade, I was 11. Most of the girls go to McDonald’s Dance Academy. I made the team sophomore year for orchesis and the competitive team and I’ve been on poms since freshman year.
E: I actually start doing dance when I was 3 but I’ve done ballet my entire life. I hadn’t done jazz or contemporary or anything besides being trained in ballet at the park district in Mt. Prospect. Then I made orchesis freshman year, and then poms and competitive dance sophomore year.
(me to L): How’d you go from starting late to getting to this level?
L: When I first started, I was with 7, 8, 9 year olds in my class and I was 11. I worked a lot, did a lot classes, I did the ensemble group. So I kind of had to work really hard to catch up with everyone. Watched a lot of Dance Moms.
(me to E): And with your classical background, how’d you get up to speed with jazz?
E: It was just practicing and doing it a lot more, and just immersing yourself in different styles. Also just learning from the older dancers, they definitely helped me. Our old coach, K.B., she made us stick our guns and work really hard, so that helped motivate me to get into other styles,
L: Also with me, I started freshman year, but I got to do poms in middle school, but they didn’t have poms at their middle school [Evelyn’s], so that helped me learn about the arms and all that.
What’s this team really good at?
L: I think we’re really good at being sharp, personally.
E: Yeah, just hitting and being on time. Like counts.
L: We’re good at making sure everyone knows the counts. We’ve had so many times when we’re in the stadium and the music likes to go off, so we have to count it out loud. So everyone has to know it. We’ve never had a problem—when the music went out, we were still all on time.
What are you hoping to improve on?
E: Maybe turns?
L: Fouettes, yeah.
E: …seconde turns.
L: Toe touches. Some girls have really good toe touches on this team, and other girls like me, we do it at 45 [degrees]!
What are your favorite styles of dance to perform and to watch?
E: I love contempotary. Anything that’s like, you feel it. Anything emotional. And also watching it, I feel the same way. Visceral-style dance is my favorite to watch, I love it.
L: I like hip hop more, and like jazz. I like performing jazz better, but watching hip hop is probably my favorite.
What’s the best part about being on this team?
L: I like our Fridays, our Fridays are very fun. We have an ultimate frisbee bonding thing—there’s an ultimate frisbee team here, so all of us go and do frisbee for an hour against all the boys teams. We were one of the only girls’ teams until this year. And then we go to get ready for the game, the juniors all together and the seniors all together. Then we all come and do sidelines. I mean, you just saw how much fun we have at the games!
E: We help each other put on makeup, put glitter on our faces. Everything about Fridays. But also team bonding. I’ve made some of my closest friends here and I’m so glad I’m on this team otherwise I wouldn’t have some of my closest friends.
Olivia, Elle, Bridget (seniors)
Coach told me you guys have a fun fact to share…
O: We are the only four-year members in the history of the Prospect Dance Team!
What are your dance backgrounds like?
B: We’re very similar—we all started at the same studio, McDonald’s Dance…
O: Most of us on the team were in the same classes with each other.
E: We did dance ensemble, we were on middle school poms together, and we’ve been on all three teams.
What’s it like being part of that special group that’s been here for four years?
O: I think it’s pretty cool.
E: We’ve also been to state the three years we’ve been on it.
What are your favorite styles of dance to perform?
B: Probably contemporary lyrical, especially for competition when it’s really clean and pretty. It feels just good to do it.
E: Definitely lyrical and jazz. I think pom is fun to do, too
O: My favorite is like the cheesy lyrical, like the ones you see at state and go, “Awww, that’s so pretttyyyy!” And we’ve always wanted one of those routines, and I think finally this year we’re getting one, so we’re really excited.
And favorite styles to watch as a fan?
B: Hip hop and jazz.
O: Hip hop.
E: Hip hop, lyrical, and Maine South kick routines are so cool.
O: It looks so good.
Which other teams are you fans of?
E: Geneva!
O: York!
E: Warren always has cool hip hop dances.
B: Lincoln Way West, Lake Zurich.
Is there something that this team is really good at?
B: I’d say we’re good at turning, once we clean it.
O: Really simple moves, like we have a good basic foundation. It doesn’t have to always be the really complicated stuff when everybody does it clean.
Since so many on the team went to McDonald, do you think everyone on the team’s technique is pretty much the same?
E: Yeah, and almost all of us that went to McDonald have gone to the Mount Prospect Park District, so everyone has danced together at some point before coming here.
What’s this team hoping to improve on?
E: We’re trying to get more aerials on our team for skill level.
O: Probably more complicated turns, like changing spots, and adding in cool arms with them.
What should the rest of the dance community know about you guys?
E: I think we’ve come out of nowhere, in a way, because we’ve only been in existence for five years.
B: The first two years were just not good.
E: The first year it was developing…
B: …it was trial and error…
E:… and then last year we went to state finals. I think that was unexpected for a lot of people.
O: I think it’s cool because when we were in middle school it wasn’t like, “Oh, I wanna be on Prospect competitive dance team.” I mean I literally got an email from someone else who was going to trying out.
B: I didn’t even know what it was. And we’ve been part of the “evolving” for the first couple of years, when it was still fun even if we did bad at first. Now doing good is SO exciting.
O: It feels like we made something for ourselves.
Prospect Dance at State
IHSA 2015: 3A Day 1
IHSA 2016: 20th in 3A
IHSA 2017: 13th in 3A (including 2nd at sectionals behind Maine South, ahead of LP, York)
IHSA 2018: 11th (Day 2) in 3A
IHSA 2019: 20th in 3A
One last thing:
I asked Coach (Tole) Frerichs what her overall favorite moment of her first official season was. “Qualifying for state! That feeling when our name was called at Sectionals was simply amazing!”
Junior Evelyn Burkhard picked that same moment as her high point of the year: “Our sectionals competition felt like a dream; It definitely was one of our best performances yet. It is so satisfying to know that we’ve improved so much since the beginning of the season, and it has really paid off.”
Like any other team, the Prospect dancers had their tough moments. Coach Tole’s low point of the season? “Not having our name announced at MSL, even though we placed 5th. We thought we had such a good performance and then not placing was a horrible feeling. However, when we got the score packet we realized we placed!”
Sophomore Grace Terry mentions the grind of the season as one of the harder aspects she had to face. “There were some low points when we would leave practice feeling burnt out, but we would always come back the next day stronger.”
When I asked about the team’s proudest moment, Evelyn points to the elements in their competition routine. “We have incorporated a lot of difficult elements this year (3 turn sections). It really shows how much hard work and effort goes into it because without all the practice and push from our coaches we probably would’ve never thought we were able to be as great as we have become.”