Team Feature: Argo

Competitive dance in Illinois sometimes feels like a stormy sea. The Argo Sailorettes keep the traditions of our sport afloat.

 

by Norm Ramil, 8 Count Audio chief.music.officer & dance.fan

Don’t get Siri confused or upset—there’s no need to search for “Argo” on your phone’s map app. Argo Community High School is named after what used to be a neighborhood built around a factory, which later became part of Summit, Illinois. Argo, the old town, was itself named after one of the products that came out of its huge corn-milling plant. You can still find “Argo” corn starch in the baking aisle of your grocery store.

But what about the name, “Argo?” You might know it from that Greek mythology unit in English class. The Argo was the ship that Jason and his Argonauts used in their search for the Golden Fleece. Thankfully, Argo Community High School’s logo is that sailing ship instead of a can of corn starch. And that’s why their poms team is The Sailorettes.

They’re listed among IHSA’s competitive dance teams, but Argo prefers to go by “Poms.” The 2016-17 version of the Sailorettes is led by 10 seniors alongside five juniors and seven sophomores—22 in all. Put away the calculators, because I’ll just tell you that close to half of this large team are seniors! Another sign of strength is that 10 are returning to varsity from last year, while all of the others have JV experience.

It’s a big group that really fills their practice space. Instead of sharpening their moves in Argo’s historic and crazy-unique gym (where they’ve hosted many dance competitions over the years), the Sailorettes claim the huge cafeteria as their own. Sure, you’ll find food service stations, folded up tables, and basketball court markings on the floor. But both the Varsity and JV Sailorettes have bulletin boards that quietly let you know this is their house after school.

I got the opportunity to visit the team at the start of September and again over Christmas break. Coach Dawn Palmer runs a steady ship. I notice that this early January practice looks and feels a lot like my visit on September 1st. Just about the only difference is the temperature. The cafeteria was chilly that first afternoon (a few days before Labor Day), but the room felt hot and dry on January 6th. Go figure!

Temperature swings don’t stop these dancers. All 22(!) are here on this final weekday of winter break, dressed in light blue t-shirts printed with this year’s pom theme. The Sailorettes were here, hard at work, 24 hours ago. But before that, they last practiced on December 19th. It looks like they’ve shaken off the rust that builds up over the holidays. Captains kick off practice with stretching and warmups, and then the team launches into their pom and kick drills. Next, the Sailorettes turn their attention to learning and sharpening their routines.

Fall is about football, so the challenge at practices is juggling all of the routines and making changes on the spot. Once competition season rolls around, the Sailorettes focus on their single competition dance and only run through other dances for basketball as time allows—and today, it does. The girls can afford to take some time to polish their basketball stuff. The Sailorettes have used up their competition limit and just have the South Suburban Conference coming up before heading to sectionals.

Walking in, I find a team that’s busy re-creating a football routine, prepping it for a basketball performance in about a week. The Sailorettes may not throw down every ballet and jazz trick in the book, but as an elite pom team, the girls like flashy and complex routines. So this one’s got lifts, a kick portion, and a visually stunning spinning group trick. I remember the girls enthusiastically demonstrating it for me in the fall, something old school that they were dying to break out at some point.

The Sailorettes take turns remembering the next section of this fall football routine. Coach Palmer runs through the sections and calls out the counts before they eventually try it with music (an updated version of Aretha Franklin’s “Think”). “Pretty good for not doing it since September,” she tells her girls. But “some personality would be good.”

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Becoming an Argo Sailorette starts at tryouts, where the girls perform a routine that’s taught at a clinic beforehand. Kick combinations and left and right splits are also part of the tryouts agenda. Character counts: you’ll need teacher recommendations which factor in to half of their tryout score.

Summer practices focus on conditioning and drills. Their June home camp ends with a family barbecue. The Sailorettes also get together to tie dye t-shirts and watch movies. And if you want to be a Sailorettes captain, you’ll need to show off your cooking talents as you make dinner for the entire team at the traditional summer captain’s dinner. “The most important part of summer for the team is to connect,” writes Coach Palmer. “I want them to enjoy working with one another. If you like your teammates, the whole team experience will be better.”

One of the toughest late-summer / early-fall assignments on any dance team is being a freshman, especially on varsity. Coach Palmer proudly tells me that “the Sailorettes work together to decorate freshman lockers and offer service and spirit for the freshmen on orientation day.” One of the team’s many traditions is their big sister / little sister program. The big sister Sailorettes make signs and gifts for their little sisters, surprising them at the first home game. The little sisters return the favor for the last home basketball game at the end of winter.

Four football routines make up their fall dance menu, with most of the material learned at camp and then updated later. All three levels team up for the homecoming routine, with over 50 girls taking part in the performance. Sometimes the grade-schoolers who attended Argo’s pee-wee pom clinic get to dance with the Sailorettes at a football game. Coach Palmer is especially proud of one Sailorette fall tradition: the hoop routine. The veteran coach explains, “Hoop routines are a thing of the past in the drill/dance world and not many teams do them anymore. We continue to do it because the crowd loves it and we’re a team built on traditions.”

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Aside from the usual phone-bluetooth speaker combo, Coach Palmer’s joined by two bins of blue and red poms at the front of the formation. She’s also got a roll of tape handy to mark the floor with makeshift volleyball lines. After a water break, the Sailorettes are ready to work on their competition routine and pick poms out of the plastic bins sitting next to me. It’s a dance they choreographed on their own (starting with the captains). As the idea gets filled-out by Coach Palmer and the rest of the dancers, it becomes a team creation in the end. “Everybody’s opinion matters and suggestions are always welcome,” adds Argo’s esteemed poms coach.

The Sailorettes love to feature pom elements that we don’t see enough of anymore. One section of today’s choreo is a self-pom toss, but the girls aren’t getting the toss heights to look even. Coach Palmer has her girls practice the complex move: the dancers are on the floor, toss the pom up, and flip themselves over in time to catch the pom. And it’s all got to be in sync.

“Team’s aren’t risking any poms in the air,” she tells me, commenting on the new deductions for missed execution. A dropped pom was never a good thing and always used to cost a little something, but these days, it’s an automatic deduction. Other styles of dance might miss a trick and get away with it, but nothing’s more obvious than that lonely, colorful pom, sitting awkwardly on the floor.

The Sailorettes set their initial formation for the next run-through. “Line up your poms and line up your butts,” instructs the veteran coach. She hits play, and the fancy, rapid-fire pom exchanges and tricks come to life. The crinkle and sizzle of the poms is just as loud as the music. It’s audible evidence of the coach’s main suggestion at this section of practice: pom work requires confidence. Palmer encourages the girls who are still trying to land a couple of tricks: “Once you master it, you got it.”

After a run-through, a captain asks, “Was it clean?” Her coach says yes, “Nice and sharp.”

The girls are flexible, not just physically but mentally. They’re always up for checking on what might look better. When the Sailorettes want to tweak a combo, the left and right half of the formation each test out new ideas, and Coach Palmer will have plenty to say about each option. For cleaning, the team splits into two or three groups. Captains lead the cleaning while Coach Palmer directs all the groups, making decisions on what to sharpen and how to do accomplish it. She never runs out of corrections but always keeps an encouraging tone in her voice. “Your pom needs to be at shoulder height.” “I need higher jumps, stronger arms.” Often it’s just a matter of the girls deciding and clarifying the details.

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For a team with such ample numbers, you might be surprised to know that only a couple of the girls have technical dance training. One of Argo’s middle schools has a pom team coached by two former Sailorettes, so it’s a way of upping the chances that incoming Sailorettes know the basics of Argo’s skills and sideline dances. The middle school coaches also share stories of their time as Sailorettes which creates a lot of excitement among their kids.

Varsity Coach Dawn Palmer was running pom practices at Argo well before any of her dancers were born. It’s her 25th year coaching this storied program—her program, the one she herself danced for in the ‘80s. When away from Sailorette business, she teaches business classes at Argo. “Winning is great but only if you love the entire journey,” she says. “My goal as a coach is to make lifelong memories for the girls; if those memories involve winning, that’s a bonus!”

JV Coach Dana Kral, in charge of 15 girls on her team, works at Argo as an administrative assistant and is in her 15th year of guiding JV. Coach Kral also danced as a Sailorette in the ‘90s under Palmer. Argo also has a Freshman level poms team under Coach Jennifer Holmbeck. The phys ed teacher is in her 2nd year of coaching and has 17 dancers on her team.

Longtime dance fans know what Argo is all about: pom and kick. These were the categories the Sailorettes specialized in during the 2000s and 2010s in IDTA and then TDI competition. “We do these because they are more precision-based and that is our strong point,” explains Coach Palmer. “We like to think that we are pretty good with pom tricks, passes, and color effects.”

The Varsity Sailorettes first hit IDTA State in 2003 in kick and pom. The next season, they moved up a class to AAA and took home a 3rd in pom, just behind Fremd. The ’05 Sailorettes, back in AA, earned a runner-up trophy in kick and another 3rd in pom. The 2006 team (back up into AAA) got to state again in kick and won a 3rd place trophy for pom. And a year later, they brought pom to state again and also won 2nd in kick.

Then, the breakthrough. 2008, IDTA State, Assembly Hall in Champaign: the Sailorettes won the AAA pom category to go with a 2nd place trophy for kick. Argo then made plenty of TDI state appearances in kick and pom over the next few years, including a 2nd for kick in 2012. In IHSA, Coach Palmer guided her dancers to a 13th at state in 2014 and a 19th the following year. Last January, the Sailorettes missed qualifying for state by .36.

Big rosters, decades of fame, and a family-like spirit make for an sizable Argo Sailorettes alum network. Former team members help to judge tryouts, a smart way to connect past, present, and future. It’s also a way to uphold the pom ideas that have built the program over the decades. You can find erstwhile (yeah, I just hit you with an SAT vocab word) Sailorettes all over the dance map. Some have danced on big-name teams (like the Illinettes and the Arizona State Spirit Squad), others have become coaches, and some even judge in various dance organizations.

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Soon the already-warm room is hot enough for the Sailorettes to request that they be able to open the doors. Hazy winter sunshine and a little cool air enter the lunchroom. Building security eventually stops in to break the bad news: the doors need to stay shut. We’re not only cut off from the cool air but also the construction noise going on just south of the building. It’s the school’s new Portillo’s Arts Center—yes, that Portillo (he’s an Argo alum). As delicious as it sounds, the Sailorettes won’t be based in the new building, they tell me. (Suddenly I’m in the mood for a hot dog).

During another water break, senior and captain Rose checks in with individual teammates on aspects of the performance. “You never run out of energy, Rose,” compliments her coach. “I had coffee this morning…I’m so ready!” She even suggests putting on weights for the next run-through, but Coach Palmer decides to not waste time getting the weights on and off. And remember that thing about how a dancer’s character figures into her tryout scores? “I like your outfit today!” she says to a girl on the side. Rose even took a moment during a water break to thank me for helping out the dance community. It’s a roster full of good kids. A reminder about the value of honesty is painted on the back wall of their practice space, meant for the whole school population to gaze at during lunch. But with this team, it’s a little like preaching to the choir.

And inside their school building, the Sailorettes are widely admired. These dancers enjoy elite status here. Coach Palmer writes, “We pride ourselves on having a team of outstanding students. Our Sailorettes are some of the top students at school.” Most of the girls are on the honor roll and take honors / AP classes—no small feat for a team of 22. And all of them are role models and leaders, their coach proudly tells me.

Keeping in mind Argo’s preferred style, it’s no surprise which other teams they admire. “We are partial to pom teams and so we really love Glenbard North because of their incredible creativity with poms. Montini makes amazing pom pictures and keeps their routines moving from beginning to end. They make great things happen whether they have 24 girls or 10 girls performing.”

Coach Palmer maintains a balanced view of what the team experience is all about, no doubt shaped by her decades-long association with the Sailorettes program. “Winning is great but only if you love the entire journey. My goal as a coach is to make lifelong memories for the girls; if those memories involve winning, that’s a bonus!”

For all the amazing dance team talent in Illinois, Argo is a poms program that’s vital to competitive dance. The Sailorettes have a unique legacy. They’re the link between then and now.

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Seniors—the group interview

What are you guys’ studio backgrounds if you have one?
ROSE (captain): I danced at Impact studios and have studied tap.
KATIE (captain): I went to Hickory Hills Park District and Adrenaline Dance Company. I’ve taken jazz, ballet, tap, pointe, and lyrical.
RACHEL: None!
JILLIAN (captain): I Irish Dance.
NICOLE: None!

What’s your personal favorite style of dance?
ROSE: Ballet.
MIKAYLA (who just joined the interview): Lyrical.
KATIE: Contemporary.
RACHEL: Kick.
JILLIAN: Lyrical.
NICOLE: Pom.

What’s been your favorite memory so far?
ROSE: [Last year] when our music cut out at conference, but the team kept going, and that was probably the proudest moment I ever had. Last year we didn’t really have a good season. At our first competition, we got 2nd. It was a really good moment for all of us.
MIKAYLA: I like all of our competitions. Competitions make me happy!
KATIE: After every competition when we leave the floor we all feel like we did really good.
JILLIAN: It was like that throughout the season, not just at competition. All of our routines that we perform, like for football, we just felt really good about it. [Rachel nods in agreement].
NICOLE: We put in a lot of work. Practices are hard.

How many hours a week do you put in the work?
ROSE: Like ten…but if we have competitions, it’s definitely more.

What are some fun things you do on competition day to get pumped up?
ROSE: I try to send them inspirational texts in the morning before we meet up. From an inspirational song to go with the theme.
[me]: Like, what’s a good example of a song you used?
ROSE: Meghan Trainor “Me Too.”
KATIE: And “Push It.”
ROSE: So it’s just things to feel good about yourself and promote more confidence.
JILLIAN: On competition day we always give out gifts. The moms put together cute gifts that say our team name. We look forward to that a lot.
NICOLE: Before every performance we do a chant together…
RACHEL: …while standing in a circle.

What are some other teams you admire?
ROSE: Oak Forest because they hit their moves really, really strong. Eisenhower has a really good routine and their music is really inspirational. [Katie agrees].
RACHEL: Lemont…
ROSE: They have a beautiful routine. They’ve really grown from what I’ve seen of them.

Anything else you want the dance community to know about the Sailorettes?
KATIE: I’d say that most of our team doesn’t really have any dance experience at all, so everything that the team has, we’ve learned all together.
JILLIAN: You can start from nothing and become something, so don’t be discouraged.
ROSE: It’s kind of like an underdog thing. Underdogs can win.