Posted 6/18/26 8:33 pm
Norm Ramil
I can’t wait to see everyone at our first event of the summer tomorrow at Lyons! Maddy’s been on the road teaching this week, so I’m sure she’ll love being back home. Plus we’ll be working with a host team that just had such a breakthrough season:
Lyons Township’s successful years-long path toward the top 3 at IHSA state is a fantastic story, and I’m grateful to the program for teaming up on one of our summer tech / college prep clinics. With Maddy Vercelli teaching the 4-hour event, I feel comfy saying that LT (North campus!) will be the dance capital of Illinois on Friday.
THE CAMP MIXING BOWL OF TEAMS
Two seasons going on right now: dance comps/nationals and recitals, and teams at camp. All the usual travel tips apply (bring pillows and flip flops, and have reasonable expectations of the hotel / dorm breakfast).
• One thing I love about summer camp is the mix of teams who encounter each other. At NIU’s camp earlier this week, you had northwest suburban Chicago teams (Woodstock, Crystal Lake Central, Cary-Grove and others) dancing and learning along side of fast-risers Rockridge. Hopefully everyone got to know each other a little better. I’m definitely a fan of summer camp friend-teams cheering on each other during comp season.
COACHING OPPORTUNITIES
Open coaching positions: Batavia JV; Roosevelt University assistant; Eastern Illinois University head coach.
A DEVILETTE CROWNED
Congrats to Warren Devilette Brooke, the newly-crowned Miss Illinois Teen! I’m positive that Coach Paige, herself a pageant veteran, will share her congrats on our next podcast together.
POP – BALLET COLLAB
Ready for a broad-brush music statement? You could make a good case for the 2015-2026 (and probably through 2030) era in music being dominated by 2 tribes — bro country and pop divas. Alongside T Swift, we have Sabrina, Chappell, Dua, (honorable mention for Tate?) and charging back to the forefront this summer, Olivia Rodrigo.
• She’s arguably the artsiest of the bunch, having gotten her initial airplay at alternative radio at the same time her label pushed her at pop radio. Rodrigo stays with the artistic route in her ballerina-themed video for “Stupid Song.”
• Ballet superstar Tiler Peck choreographed the video. Billboard magazine has a quick article on Peck’s vision for the video and what is was like to work with Rodrigo.
ANOTHER ILLINOIS D1 ROOKIE
It seems like we’re seeing more and more Illinois dancers who are earning spots on D1 college teams. A quick example from one of the breakout teams of the past couple seasons, Buffalo Grove:
• I’m happy to see 8CA All-State honors alongside Alexandra’s other superlatives, and I’m grateful that getting on our annual nominated roster is a sought-after, meaningful statewide honor for most dance programs across the state. Just wanted to say I appreciate you all!
• Not to steal any thunder from Alexandra, who joins a stellar Michigan State Elite program that competes in NDA. She’ll dance as a rookie alongside talented newcomers from Michigan and from as far away as New York.
• And for all of the praise I’ve heaped on Buffalo Grove the past couple seasons (and their earning fan-fave status at state), here’s yet another sign of their ascendancy: sending a dancer to a competitive Big 10 team.
WHICH COMES FIRST: PUTTING UP THE CHRISTMAS LIGHTS, OR CROWNING IOWA’S CHAMPS?
So Iowa’s ISDTA (that state’s dance comp organization, since the state high school association doesn’t have dance as a sport) is known for its EARLY state comp (usually the weekend after Thanksgiving weekend). So this caught my eye (I know their annual state weekend dates by heart but it’s always shocking to see it in print). It’s just wild to think that Iowa’s dance team titles will be all settled less than six months from now!
• …which stands in contrast to all those Illinois teams who haven’t yet rostered a fall team or even thought about their football dances!
HAPPY JUNETEENTH!
I’ve freely flexed by non-dance interests on 8CA posts and articles over the years, so the coaches out there who teach social studies are probably aware of my XL nerd status when it comes to studying the Civil War. Which brings me to Juneteenth, and I’ll be reflecting on the importance of the day (both originally and what it represents) along with many others in the dance world.
• The quick version of this holiday’s background is that at the end of the Civil War (a good 8 weeks after the major fighting ended in Virginia, and about 4 – 6 weeks after resistance ended in the Carolinas), the local Federal army commander in south Texas issued an order — essentially an FYI — letting the locals know that slavery was no longer in effect anywhere in the United States, and that former slaves were free people. Lots of asterisks weigh down this story, of course. But what that original order says, means, and represents is absolutely worth thinking about.
• Or, if you’re not into history, can we just throw up a W for the penmanship of that era? And the rhetoric and style deserve a raise-the-roof gesture, too.