Blood, sweat and tears. All of these things trickle into the lives of dancers. Frustration and repetition come alive with a leap of the body and heart. Success in dance can only be achieved by pushing a tired body and a strained mind until complete creative balance is achieved. In the end, every sacrifice and every hour spent sweating pure energy and emotion pay off. Crew members shout for the music to be cued on a blustery Tuesday night. The lights at Fisher Theater go dim and slowly raise again to etch light onto the black stage. Members of Orchesis are ready to do yet another run through of their piece before opening night. Shadowed bodies draped in flowing, ruby gowns stand regally against an elegant blue backdrop. The group raises its arms, and months of work finally come together.These performers know the hard work and sacrifice that go into performing dance, with effortless confidence. They are experiencing it firsthand. Orchesis, Iowa State’s premiere auditioned dance group, will put on its annual spring gala dance concert this weekend. Barjche (pronounced Bar shay) will play only three shows at Fisher Theater for those lucky enough to have snagged tickets ahead of time.The show’s unique name comes directly from its origins. Barjche began 55 years ago and is named for the first names of the group’s officers put together — Barbara, Charlotte and two dancers both named Jean, says Laurie Sanda, Barjche’s artistic director and Orchesis I’s faculty advisor.”It takes an incredible exercise on teamwork to make something like this happen,” Sanda says. More than 50 dancers, with a wide range of majors, are participating in Barjche.”Barjche is a pretty unique show, I think,” says Orchesis president Jennifer Pol, senior in psychology. “People from different disciplines give up their free time to dance and produce this show. Other schools with similar concerts probably have a larger concentration of [dance] majors.”Pol, who has been a member of the group for three years, describes Barjche a “very sophisticated modern dance concert,” although many different forms of dance are incorporated into the show.”While we call it a modern dance concert, it is really open to any dance form,” Pol says. “We usually have a few tap pieces, maybe a little ballroom, a little ballet, and other forms that people want to incorporate.”Students do a great deal of the work that goes into Barjche.”It is produced, choreographed and danced by students, for the most part,” she explains. “It’s a family thing,” adds Laura Geiger, sophomore in English, secondary education. “We spend so much time together and everyone really comes together in the end. We support each other not only on stage but in everything.”There is also a great collaboration between faculty members and the student dancers, says Geiger, who is also Orchesis’ treasurer.Vernon Windsor, dance musician and instructor, has been actively involved with Barjche since the early 1970s.”I was a member [of Orchesis] when I was an ISU student in the 1970s and again when I finished my degree in the early 1990s,” Windsor says. “It is remarkable in the fact that it reaches across many different societal strata while providing dance performance and choreographic opportunities for students,” he adds, “and at the same time provides an entertainment and educational opportunity for the community.”Members of Orchesis have been working on the design aspects of show and on the dance pieces since early October. Lindsey Ingleby, senior in genetics, who has been involved with Orchesis for three years and is now the group’s vice president, says there is a large time commitment to Barjche.”We have worked at least two hours per week per piece every week since auditions,” Ingleby says.”The most exciting thing is being in the theater and performing,” says Stephanie Lee, senior in marketing with a dance minor and the one of the group’s publicists. “After spending so many months preparing, it is a great payoff to see what we’ve been doing in rehearsal transform into a great piece of work.” Lee, who has been a member of Orchesis for two years, thinks Barjche is even more than a great opportunity for students to experience what it is like to perform on stage.”Barjche provides the Iowa State community with the chance to see some amazing dancing,” Lee says.Some students really enjoy the “tech week” when last minute corrections and final adjustments simply have to fall gracefully into place. “We’ve been sewing like maniacs,” Sanda says with a smile, referring to the final fittings and renderings of costumes.”It is very busy and stressful with everyone running around doing things, but it is also very exciting to sit in the audience and see everyone in costume on stage with all of the lights and with the set,” Lee says. “Being on stage with such a great audience is definitely worth all of the time, hard work and stress that we go through.””Dance is about movement,” Windsor says. “Movement is what they should expect to see. There isn’t always a story. There isn’t always a theme.”It is like food in a way,” he adds. “There will be familiar tastes, there will be new and different tastes.”