Q: When did Orchesis Dance Company form?
A: The origin of Orchesis Dance Company is not entirely known. There are records that date back as far as 1969 under the direction of Mary Ellen Kies. Since then, Orchesis has had several dance directors including Sharon Arcieri, Diana Ives, Robin Hill and now, Lucy Vurusic-Riner.

Q: How many dancers make up Orchesis?
A: Orchesis Dance Company is still home to about approximately 65 dancers. The troupe works with the community’s finest high school dancers from a variety of studios and parks in the area.

Q: Where does Orchesis perform?
A: Orchesis Dance Company started with only one annual Spring Concert. Since its inception, their performance schedule has grown to include two full length concerts, Wheeling High School's Youth In Action, the Tri-District Dance Festival, the annual Illinois High School Dance Festival, and numerous other charitable events.

Q: Does Orchesis receive support from the community?
A: Orchesis Dance Company is annually featured in the Oak Leaves, the Suburban Sun-Times, our very own Trapeze, and several other community newspapers in the area.

Q: Does Orchesis work with neighboring schools?
A: Orchesis Dance Company has developed and performed outreach programs for neighboring high schools such as Northside College Prep, and is available for performances throughout the school year.

Q: Does Orchesis compete in annual festivals?
A: Since the inception of the Illinois High School Dance Festival, Orchesis Dance Company has been chosen to perform in its gala performance over 25 times. In that time OPRFHS has had the pleasure of hosting this state festival four times. Most recently, the Festival was hosted in 2005 and Orchesis was featured on WGN morning news to promote the event.

Q: Where does Orchesis get their costumes?
A: Orchesis Dance Company has an impressive costume closet that spans over twenty years of costumes. All costumes purchased for Orchesis come from their own revenue incurred through performances. They also receive support from various dance studios and other high school dance departments, and through the generous donations from the PTO and Booster Club.

Q: Do students in Orchesis go on to dance in college?
A: In the 2005-2006 school year 7 of the 26 graduating seniors went to college to pursue dance performance/dance education professions. All seven of these students were granted talent scholarships.