The dance team competed in a state dance competition at Valencia High School and was able to place in all categories of the competition and win first in the character dance category.
Team members started the day of the competition at 5 a.m. and stayed until 10 p.m., where more than 20 different schools came to participate in the competition.
“For me, dance competitions are not intimidating or scary,” dance team member and junior Ashley Kim said. “It’s rather fun to see other dances from different high schools and it’s also always nice to meet other people and become friends with them.”
The competition consisted of many different dance categories including lyrical, jazz, hip hop and character dance in which the team performed their routine. After performing, the team would get feedback from the judges about its performance.
The dance team’s strategy in the competition was to both focus on doing their best in their performance and keeping a good team morale.
“I think what made us win first was our team morale,” dance team captain and senior Bridget Nagel said. “All of us were said since it was the last competition of the season, but we were all really excited. We’re basically each other’s family, so competing with each other is very fun. I think that’s something we have that other teams don’t.”
Upon reflecting on what could have been done better in the competition, members simply wish that they could have performed with a greater degree of accuracy.
“For me personally, I made a very noticeable mistake in our hip hop dance where my dance fell off in the middle,” Kim said. “I was on front center and I knew everyone saw my mistake so I go really nervous and it wasn’t my personal best.”
After reflecting on the entire experience as a whole, dance team members felt pride in how much they were able to achieve nevertheless.
“I’m so proud of how far dance team has come this year,” Nagel said. “I say this all the time to them, but the amount they have improved is amazing. Every single person has become an extraordinary dancer with their own strengths. Since I’m a senior, and that was my last competition, I”m proud to finish my dance team career this way.”