If you can spell or pronounce Barjche, consider yourself part of a small minority. Barjche (bar-shay), which isn’t even technically a word, is the title of the largest performance of the year put on by the Orchesis dance team.

Every year since it was founded in 1944, Barjche has been the best opportunity for ISU students to display their skills and dance routines. Riannan Peterson, Orchesis secretary and senior in performing arts, said Barjche derives its name from the three founding dancers.

“Barjche stands for the three ladies who founded the concert: Barbara, Jean and Charlotte. They took bits and pieces of their names and made Barjche,” Peterson said. Although Barjche originated 62 years ago, Orchesis as a modern dance program began in 1926 and has since offered a place for all students to learn more about dance and to experience it firsthand. In fact, Orchesis adviser Taryn Packheiser said the dance team was founded even before Iowa State offered classes or a major in performing arts.

Adelaide Glab, sophomore in pre-advertising and one of two Orchesis historians, said, “I got involved because I love dance, and Orchesis is a great place to enjoy dancing. You get to express yourself, too.”

Fellow Orchesis historian Kristin Stewart, senior in performing arts, said that often her involvement in dance is misinterpreted.

“I tell people I’m a dancer and they think I’m a stripper, but there is more to dancing than what you see on MTV and in the bars,” she said.

This year Barjche boasts more than 40 artists in a multitude of dance presentations. Packheiser choreographed one piece in particular that is a parody of an encounter she had at a bar with the stripper stereotype.

During the piece, dancers repeat the phrase, “Say no, I do not have a nice ass, when asked about your dancing capabilities.” Peterson said the show will consist of about 14 different pieces, but the final lineup has not been determined.

“We’re excited to have around 14 performances because we can offer more for our audience,” Peterson said.

With piece titles ranging from “Brain Bath” to “Looking into Broken Glass,” Peterson said that every different dance routine offers a new look at unique interpretations of music, movement and expression.

“People can expect to see a wide variety of dance pieces this year. We have modern, tap, a text and movement piece, a light routine, which is something like a drill team, and a hip hop routine just to name a few,” she said.

Audiences attending Barjche will also have a taste of some other artists besides those in Orchesis. The ISU Groove Drumline Club will provide the pre-show entertainment for the Saturday and Sunday Barjche performances.

Additionally, Barjche has brought in a guest performer from India and a guest choreographer from California to help with the show.

“We always have a guest choreographer for some of the dances performed at Barjche,” Packheiser said. For Barjche’s 2006 concert, Leyya Tawil of Oakland, Calif., was asked to bring her long-standing experience in the dance world to Iowa State. Not only is Tawil renowned as a skilled dancer herself, but she is also the co-founder of Dance Elixer, a nonprofit dance organization dedicated to artistic collaborations and community-based programming in Oakland.

“I think the audience will be able to relate to the dances more and appreciate the variety in dancing,” Packheiser said. “Tawil really works with dancers to create something meaningful.”

Tawil is well known throughout the dance community for her expertise with release technique, a method of dancing movement that integrates momentum, line and personality. According to Packheiser, Tawil’s release technique puts emphasis on bone and body movement, resulting in a broader form of musical interpretation.

The guests brought in by Orchesis will not be the only hardworking artists at Barjche this year. Planning for this performance began early in the fall when auditions for the show took place.

Stewart said dancers have been preparing for many months. “We cast our dancers in October and have been rehearsing ever since. It’s a long process and things change every week in the dances,” she said.

However, Peterson said the months of preparation are worth the effort.

“Barjche comes together as a great exploration of the movement, music and ideas that gets put into each dance piece,” Peterson said. “We don’t mind working hard because we know the viewers expect to feel something toward each dance piece and we want to provide that.”

Ultimately, Barjche offers an opportunity for both the performers and spectators to appreciate dance as an art form that can be presented in many different ways. Members of Orchesis are hoping for a good turnout and insist that the $5 spent on a ticket won’t leave students disappointed.

“If you have nothing better on your weekend schedule, do something different and come support us,” Stewart said.