JOHN DAY Prepare for stunning dance routines at the Spring Showcase, 6:30 p.m. Friday, March 9.

The free event at the Grant Union Junior-Senior High School gym will feature Level 1, 2, and 3 dance classes from Body Fitness and Dance as well as Grant Unions Gold and Junior Gold dance teams.

A chili feed to benefit Grant Union Gold will be at 5 p.m. in the cafeteria before the Showcase. For $5, diners will enjoy a bowl of chili, a cinnamon roll and a drink. A donation jar at the entrance to the gym will also benefit the team.

Instructing the Level 1 and 2 groups is Stephanie Parsons with her assistant, Grant Union sophomore Samantha Snyder.

Ashleigh Sampley, a Grant Union senior who instructs the Level 3 group, has been in dance since 2002. Kim Smith, who started helping with dance groups this year, is assistant instructor.

The Level 3 team earned first-place at the Pendleton dance competition Feb. 25.

The Junior Gold team is coached by Shannon Adair, who is also head coach for Grant Union Gold, and sophomore Cherise Holmstrom, who has taken dance classes from Adair since 2002.

Grant Union Golds polished performance of Divenire, will kick off the girls journey to the State Dance/Drill Championships in Portland March 14-17.

The team earned first place at Pendleton and third at Sprague High School in Salem March 3.

The team is coached by Adair and her assistant Laci Powell, a former Gold dancer who is on the dance team at Eastern Oregon University in La Grande.

The girls, dressed in black with copper sequin costumes with leggings, dance to the classical music by Italian composer Ludovico Einaudi which evolves from tranquil to intense.

Adair said the routine begins by highlighting individual dancers until the group collides, transforming into a team that dances together.

Its constantly changing and then it comes together into one piece, she said.

Adair invites the community to come out and enjoy the Showcase.

We have a great group of teachers that are doing a wonderful job with the kids in the program, she said. There is a variety of great performances to show the community.