The competitive dance season has begun, leaving the dancers to learn new routines for both competitions and their performances at basketball games. Additionally, the team is working to revive their winter clinic tradition. The team shares the same coaches as the fall performance team, with Nina Smith as Head Coach and Natalie Smith as assistant coach.

The team consists of both a varsity and junior varsity squad. The members of the varsity team are: senior Morgan Jones, sophomore Olivia Malenic, sophomore Nora Mifflin, freshman Mya Pickens and sophomore Hailey Smith. The members of the Junior Varsity team are: sophomore Hannah Curry, sophomore Tiffany Zheng and freshman Haylea French.

The competition squad competes in the Illinois Drill Team Association, the Southwestern Conference and the Illinois High School Association dance competitions. They compete in the 2A division which is decided by the size of the school. The season ends in February, however tryouts for performance dance are just around the corner in May.

Competition differs a bit from performance dance. “I expect the competition team to pick up dance moves faster,” Head Coach Nina Smith said. Additionally, competition dancers tend to practice more challenging routines in a short period of time.

All students are encouraged to join, even those without a background in dance. “I don’t come from a studio dancer background… They’ve all danced their whole lives and I’ve only really done dance team,” former performance varsity coach Morgan Jones said. Foundational dance skills are recommended for joining the team.

The varsity team is putting together a winter clinic for dancers from kindergarten to eighth grade. The dancers will all perform an original dance to Ariana Grande’s “Santa Tell Me” which will be performed at a varsity basketball game on Dec. 21. The practice will be on Dec. 16 and more information can be found on the dance team’s social media.