NORWICH – The Donna Frech School of Dance attended The Talent Olympics at the Fernwood Resort in the Poconos Nov. 30 through Dec. 3. Dance studios from Maryland, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey competed in many dance and performing art genres. Among these were Tap, Ballet, Jazz, Modern, Hip Hop, Acro/Gymnastic, Lyrical, Pointe, Ethnic Dancing, Pantomime, Novelty, Production,Vocal, Musician, and Modeling.
Talent Olympics, one of the oldest dance competitions in the country, has been offering a venue for dancers to test their skills and be judged accordingly for over 27 years. The competition has kept to the ‘old fashioned’ way of scoring contestants –1st, 2nd, and 3rd places, as opposed to adjudication. “It makes competing very challenging ... not everyone comes home with trophies,” according to Donna Frech Greenberg, the dance school’s owner/director. “Competitors are judged and scored. The top 3 in the category are awarded 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place respectively. If you deserve a 1st place, then you are the only one who receives it.”
Students at the Donna Frech School of Dance enjoyed going to the competition. The parents love it, too. “Everyone has such a great time. It’s a positive, wonderful experience. Although we don’t attend many competitions, I have kept this one on my list,” said Greenberg. “We have been attending Talent Olympics for nearly a decade. It is a friendly competition,” according to Greenberg. “Our students get to know, become friends with and learn from dancers from other studios.”
In addition to placement awards for each of the categories and age groups, Talent Olympics presents special studio awards.
The Donna Frech School Of Dance award achievements:
18 - 1st place awards:
Katie Redd - modern solo
Katie Redd - ballet solo
Bethany Sortman - lyrical solo
Laura Cammarn - tap solo
Katherine Wansor - vocal solo
Straighten Up & Fly Right - jazz group age 16 and up
Summertime - lyrical group age 16 and up
Invitation To The Dance- ballet group age 13-15
Light My Fire- ballet line age 16 and up
Wipeout - tap line age 16 and up
You Done Mixin’ Yet? - hip hop line age 13-15
Batdance - acro group age 16 and up
The Polar Express - production number ages 13 and up
Zombie - modern group age 16 and up
When You Believe - lyrical line age 16 and up
Remember Me - group lyrical age 13-15
Welcome To The 60's - group musical theater age 16 and up
Lounge Medley - adult/parents musical theater group
9 - 2nd place awards:
Hallelujah - modern group age 13-15
A Thousand Beautiful Things - lyrical group age 16 and up
The Beat Goes On - jazz group age 16 and up
In The Mood - tap group age 13-15
Monica Roser - jazz solo
Shaylyn Wasko - ballet solo
Laura Cammarn - ballet solo
Shelly Bluy - acro solo
Mambo Rock - adult/parents tap group
9 - 3rd place awards:
Kiersha Phelps - ballet solo
Bethany Sortman - jazz solo
Kiersha Phelps - jazz solo
Brittany Hayes - jazz solo
Bethany Sortman - pantomime solo
Clap Yo Hands - hip hop group age 13-15
The Devil Went Down To Georgia - acro group age 13-15
Becki Fry - lyrical solo
She’s A Lady - parents/adult jazz group
1 - 4th place award
Monique DeLuca - lyrical solo
Honorable Mention Awards:
Bethany Sortman - ballet solo
Shelly Bluy - lyrical solo
Katie Redd - Lyrical solo
Kiersha Phelps - pantomime solo
Katie Redd - pantomime solo
Shaylyn Wasko - lyrical solo
Special Awards:
The Technique Award:
This is given to the studio displaying exemplary technique and form. This year’s Technique award was won by the Donna Frech School Of Dance.
Dance Titles:
Miss Dance - Bethany Sortman
Decathlon: Multi-talented contestants competing in a minimum of four separate solo categories are eligible for this award. 15 top scoring dancers are chosen to be in the preliminaries for the decathlon. DFSD Student Katie Redd was chosen as one of the 15 dancers.
High Score:
The High Score Award is given to the highest scoring group or line routine in the 3 day competition. Dance groups contain 4 - 9 dancers while lines have 10 or more dancers. The Donna Frech School Of Dance won the High Score Award for age 13 and up. It was won by the jazz group ‘Straighten Up & Fly Right’ with a score of 299.7 out of a possible 300. “This has been one of my most favorite dances this year,” Greenberg said. “I listened to the music last year when all of the teachers were in the process of selecting music for the new season. I heard the music a few years ago and tried searching for it. I found it and only had to hear it just once again to know that it was the music selection I wanted for my senior company dancers. I shared the music with jazz class instructor Lisa Reynolds and asked her to listen to it. She agreed and the rest is history. The dancers were breathtaking in their performance. All of the dancers grew up in our studio. They are all 16 to 18 years old now and it is such a joy to see their how their gift of talent, that started when they were just young children enjoying a fun filled weekly dance class, developed into beautiful cultivated dancers,” said Greenberg.
The Big ‘O’ Award
Awarded to the dance studio with the highest number of total points earned for their 4 highest scoring dance pieces. The Big ‘O’ 2006 was awarded to the Donna Frech School Of Dance.

A separate part of the competition was for modeling. 4 DFSD students competed in the modeling. Emily Deierlein, Danielle Wasko, Bethany Sortman and Christie Foster. In age 16 and up, Danielle was awarded 3rd place in the beachwear division, Bethany was awarded 2nd place in dress/gown, 3rd in sportswear and an honorable mention in beachwear. Christie was awarded 1st place in beachwear, honorable mention in sportswear and honorable mention in dress/gown.