The school’s JV and varsity dance teams competed at the West Coast Elite Nationals in Palm Springs from March 14-16, bringing home multiple wins.
Teams competing included medium JV hip hop; small, medium and large varsity hip hop; extra-small and small JV contemporary; and small and large varsity contemporary. The varsity hip hop team placed first out of 10 teams in the large hip hop division, advancing to finals. At the finals, large hip hop, small hip hop and JV medium hip hop all won first place. Medium hip hop placed fifth out of 10 teams.
“For hip hop we compete in three separate categories, all for gold because we are a very highly ranked hip hop team which is super cool,” Caitlyn Vanhoose (11), a member of the varsity dance team, said.
Hip hop dance coaches, Francis Florendo and Ysa Penarejo, have helped the team advance in a multitude of ways.
“Aside from just us coaches … instilling our knowledge and motivation amongst these kids, we have built an environment where the captains and dancers are self-sufficient in cleaning each other, giving notes and also motivating each other leading up to nationals,” Florendo said.
As noted by Florendo, the dancers cleaned their routines and ensured everything was in check leading up to the competition.
“We have been preparing for nationals by having rehearsals and doing a lot of repetition of our routines during practice,” Ella Kaplan (11), a dancer on the varsity dance team, said. “Every competition we learn from our performance and how we can improve for nationals.”
Preparing for competitions can be challenging, but the team supported each other through the process.
“I felt really good going into the competition, because I know that the whole team and captains this year have put a lot of work into the team, [including] team bonding and cleaning,” Vanhoose said. “I felt like we had a really strong bond as a team this entire year. We felt like a big family the entire year which made me feel good going into nationals knowing that I was going to have fun doing whatever I did.”
Kaplan shared a similar feeling.
“I felt really good going into the competition, because we had practiced so much as a team and had a lot of encouragement from our coaches,” Kaplan said. “I felt very satisfied with our performances, it was really amazing that we were able to recompete at the end of the competition at the gala.”
Both coaches and athletes felt satisfied with the team’s performance.
“We always tell them that the real trophy is the feeling you get once you finish performing,” Florendo said. “And [knowing] you left everything on the floor, dancing for each other and for your school, [you’re] already celebrating in that aspect at nationals, and then coming home to a first place in our large, small and JV medium hip hop was just the icing on the cake.”
Although winning is a nice touch, for Kaplan, the experience itself was equally valuable.
“The best part of going [to the competition] was dancing with all of my best friends and spending time watching all of the other amazing dances,” Kaplan said.
