Thirteen Mundelein School of Dance students will perform for the first time in Chicago’s Magnificent Mile Lights Festival Parade on Saturday, Nov. 23, with dancers from some 20 other Chicago area programs.
Mundelein Park District dancers will join a new parade feature this year for youth performers called “Danc’n on the Magnificent Mile,” said Adam Skaf, spokesman for The Magnificent Mile Association. The parade is scheduled to step off at 5:30 p.m. Saturday, according to parade organizers.
The ABC 7 parade broadcast airs on Sunday, Nov. 24, at 6 p.m. in Chicago. Danc’n on the Magnificent Mile is scheduled to be part of the televised “broadcast zone,” said Skaf.
“I know families and friends will keep a sharp eye out for their dancers,” Skaf added.
The network broadcast of the 28th annual lights festival will be syndicated through much of the country during the holiday season, according to Skaf.
The Mundelein dancers include Derek Lee, Beth Aquino, Lexi Kasamis, Tori Collins, Kayla Baltazar, Stephanie Aquino, Taylor Petersen, Shannon Ouimet, Ella Kasamis, Madeline Aquino, Emma Holton, Lily Lopez and Sophie Volk.
The park district’s dance program has grown from beginner dance instruction more than 30 years ago to competitive programs, now with more than 300 enrollees overall, said Dance Coordinator Heather Burnes.
“I’ve been here for 13 years,” Burnes said. “We started competing at the recreational level nine years ago. (We) strive to offer dance studio experiences at an affordable cost and in a nurturing, family friendly environment.”
The park district dance facilities were expanded in mid-2018 with the opening of the Dunbar Recreation Center, a spacious, all-purpose venue with a large, mirrored dance studio.
Burnes said the Chicago event will challenge students to master the techniques of performing while moving forward on the parade route. Dancers most recently gained experience in parade routines at last summer’s Mundelein Fourth of July event.
“We’ve been rehearsing in the studio (for Chicago),” Burnes said, “but I hope to utilize a larger space before the parade to better prepare us.”
Burnes, Stephanie Nece and Kathleen Myers work with the advanced students.
Nece, involved in dance about 20 years, said the district dance programs stress the basics.
“It’s about the fundamentals, with a strong emphasis on ballet and classical technique, that we emphasize,” Nece added. “That helps students gain a strong foundation, so when they branch out, they know terms and specifics on how a body moves in space.”
Derek Lee, 17, an award-winning dancer, National Honor Society student and swimmer at Mundelein High School, focuses on tap dancing, jazz duets and lyrical duets.
His older sisters — Vivian, 21, who is captain of Quakers Girls Dance Team at University of Pennsylvania, and Sabrina, 19, a pom squad member at Notre Dame — started dancing with the park district when he was a small boy.
“I began going to their rehearsals and recitals when I was super young,” Derek said, “and found it interesting. So I wasn’t a complete stranger to the dance world when I started (instruction).”
Derek is also an assistant dance instructor with the park district.
Carrie Volk has two children in the park district dance programs, Sophie, 14, and Carly, 7. Her older daughter devotes about five hours a week to dancing and helping with instruction.
“I like how Heather Burnes is always finding different ways for the girls to experience dance,” said Volk. “The instructors are dedicated and caring and have the (students’) best interest at heart.
“They do recitals, go to nursing homes to dance, perform at (WNBA) Chicago Sky games at halftime, and now it’s the Lights Festival Parade in downtown Chicago.”
Denys Bucksten is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
