Small But Mighty Dance Team
Samm Sack
Co-Editor
I remember watching the dance team’s very first performance at a basketball game back in 2011; the girls were in sync, with sharp movements and songs everyone either already had on their iPods or were about to download after hearing the mix.
That year was phenomenal because the idea of Waverly having a dance team was surreal.
Since its development three years ago, the dance team lost the majority of its original dancers and have had to undergo rebuilding almost every year since.
Some dancers have come and gone, but senior Dana Davenport prides herself with the commitment to the team from its start.
“I really have a passion for dancing,” Davenport said. “This year is a little different because of our stuff are mostly student choreographed, so Skylar [Asher] does most of our routines. Last year we did a lot of camp routines, so that was done by the coach.”
The majority of the team, though, has come only in the last few years. Though new to dance team, they’re hardly new to dance. Junior Laurel Preuit has been dancing most of her life, but hasn’t joined the team until this year.
“It’s my first year on dance team, so I don’t have that much to compare it to,” Preuit said, “but I think it’s going very well for us. We’ve been invited to do a lot of showcases, which is pretty cool.”
Despite the popularity for the girls’ performance at basketball and football games, the team doesn’t have a lot of girls participating.
“There’s only six of us, which brings a lot of good and bad with it,” Preuit said. “We can’t do a lot of things that we want to do--like kicklines and such--with only six girls, but I feel like we are closer with only having a few of us.”
Other than at the home basketball games, the girls can also be seen at their several showcases. The biggest competition the dance team faces is Feb. 22 in Gretna at the Heartland Event Center, when they will perform at the State tournament.
You can bet the girls will have as much fun as the audience does watching the routines.
“Dancing at basketball games is really fun,” junior Tannah Schopp said. “I love performing in front of an audience.”
The girls hope to bring home a successful title for Waverly this year.
