One is 5’7” tall; the other isn’t even five-feet in stature.
But as the old adage goes, ‘opposites attract,’ and that is certainly the case–at least height-wise–for Guthrie Center’s dynamic duo of Madi Ruhland and Maria Ahrens.
The two high school students received a “I” rating from the judges for their performance of “A Wednesday in the School Cafeteria” in the Group Improvisation portion of the district speech contest this past Saturday in Perry. And with that “I” rating in tow, the girls have advanced to compete in the state speech contest at Ankeny High School on February 8th.
Madi explains why the girls work so well together.
“Part of it is because we know each other so well. We’ve been friends for a really long time and so we really know how to play off of each other, which is a key element in group improvisation.”
Another key element is having a sense of humor, which the girls say they try to employ “whenever possible.”
“We always try to make it funny so that it’s really enjoyable for the audience. We like to have some good one-liners but I think the biggest thing is our reactions–we really like to put emotion in our faces and with our bodies, and a lot of times that just gets the crowd really going.”
The “I” rating received at Saturday’s district performance in Perry is actually the third time Madi and Maria have garnered such a rating, and this year they’re hoping to receive All-State honors for their upcoming improv performance in the state meet.
Expectations are high for the duo when they travel to Ankeny, including from their coach Angie Larson, who calls Madi and Maria “two of the most amazing improv students (she’s) ever had.”
“They have great give and take with each other. They can pull anything out of the hat and go with it. They’re very physical in performing, you know they move around a lot. They act things out superbly. They just can almost read each other’s minds–it’s amazing. I tell ya, during practices where it’s just the three of us, they make me laugh so hard I cry.”
To hear more from Madi and Maria as they recap their district performance and detail what makes their improvisational skills so good, tune-in to today’s Let’s Talk Guthrie County on K107 during the 9am, noon and 5 o’clock hours.