Maddy Sonshine designs dance for choral concert, senior project

||| FROM LYNN BAKER for ORCAS CHORAL SOCIETY |||

Where do dance, high school, and choral music come together? Orcas Island! This spring’s Orcas Choral Society concert will be enhanced by Maddy Sonshine, Orcas Island High School senior.

Every Orcas Island High School senior does a senior project. For hers, Sonshine will choreograph, recruit and train dancers, and direct them in three very different numbers: classical, modern, and tap. For this budding artist, it’s a huge chance to grow.

“I’ve had a passion for choreography since middle school, when I choreographed for local talent shows,” Sonshine said. “I’m excited to explore it more now, stretching and exploring.”

Orcas Dance Collective teacher Tiffany Loney mentors Sonshine’s work. “I approached Maddy about a senior project and she just lit up! I’m supporting her choreography, and she’ll have that experience of coordinating with live music. She’s a musician, so she’ll do it well,” Loney said.

“The only thing more fulfilling than performing great music is to do so in collaboration with other passionate and talented people,” said Bruce Langford, Choral Society Artistic Director. “Working with Maddy, Tiffany and members of the Dance Collective brings an exciting new dimension to the creative process.”

“When I’m dancing to classical music, I think of bringing out the emotions in the piece,” Sonshine said. “For songs that are more modern and have lyrics in modern English, storytelling is the heart of what I’m thinking about.”

Sonshine also is creating a permanent bulletin board at the high school to let all students know of local performing arts opportunities. “I’m trying to make it more accessible, to make it clear to other students how to join the dance collective or the choral society,” Sonshine said. “You don’t always hear about it; the idea is bringing that info to the students.”

Sonshine has been in many theater and Orcas Dance Collective productions at the Orcas Center. She played Alice in Alice in Wonderland and several roles in The Nutcracker. She performed with Orcas Dance Collective in the OCS 2025 winter concert, Midnight Light.

Catch Sonshine’s work at the Choral Society spring concert, An American Choral Tapestry, Saturday, May 16, at 7 p.m. or Sunday, May 17 at the Orcas Center. Then, in a decade or so, you can say you knew Sonshine when….