Personal Narrative: Improving Team Dance

A dance team has to be centered and grasped by the concept that respect comes first, along with respect comes discipline. Team members have to respect themselves, in order to respect the people surrounding them, their environment, and administrators over them. To be better than our best we cannot be lazy. Laziness is the strongest weakness any team could ever have, it shows in everything a dancer performs, such as techniques like kicks, smiles, character and poise. I will press on the fact that, “if you truly want to win, work hard the FIRST time”, when taught a new step, dance it like you’ve known it for years, perform while in practice, aim to stand out amongst

I stood staring at my mom with a blank expression as she applied foundation on my face followed by powder and blush and a number of other various cosmetics that I had lost count of. Makeup, hair, costume, all of those were on the back of my mind as the thought of performing in front of three hundred people clouded my thoughts. All around me were muffled sounds of other dancers frantically running around trying to get ready in time, mothers yelling at their daughter's, music blaring from various speakers, doors opening and closing, metal hitting the tile floors as tappers practiced down the hall, but all I could hear was the thundering sound of my heart beat in my chest. My body started quivering slightly. The nerves were setting in. I don’t

I’ve been able to travel to places I’ve never been before, to bond with ladies who share the same passion as me, and of course to grow as a dancer. One of my most memorable dance experience’s was competing in my first national dance competition my sophomore year in high school. I was able to compete with thousands of teams from across the United States and even a few teams from other countries. I love the competition atmosphere and the moments I have to bond with my teammates. There’s nothing that can compare to dancing in front of thousands of people underneath those stage lights. The adrenaline rush I get is indescribable and to know that I’m sharing the dance floor with thirty-four other ladies that have the same goals as me is unbelievable. One of the best moments at the competition was walking away as third runner up overall when we competed against over 200 teams. Another memorable dance experience was when I went to dance camp at Oklahoma State university my senior year. I remember the very first day of camp they ran out of food and we had to order pizza to our dorms. The worst part about this was that we had to be performance ready within an hour and try to eat at the same time. It was extremely frustrating and stressful but at the end we performed and received our bid for nationals in Orlando, Florida. I honestly believe that the most excellent

Since I have been in this class I have gotten the opportunity to hear about many different directing styles and team philosophies. This semester I got a chance to listen to Abby Payne, Tracey Anderson, and Kellie Jackson-Jandt. From listening to their experiences and drawing back on my own experiences I have learned a lot about how I would want to lead my team.

Each time we were recognized, we were ecstatic. It was this tiring bonding experience that made our team one of the strongest in Anacortes High School’s history. Taking home first place in a majority of the competitions and the first gold ribbon awarded meant all our hard work had paid off. One of my proudest moments was almost dropping a trophy while attempting, and failing, to hold them all for a picture. To me, the trophies didn’t mean we were better than the other teams, they meant that in those three days, we proved we were a team worth watching, even though we were relatively small and came from a 2A high school. They meant we had survived and made the best of camp as a

On the Saturday morning that the team was announced, I was wracked with fear. I was participating in a rehearsal for a dance competition with another team during the hours leading up to the time that the list was going to be posted. Trying to get through that rehearsal was nearly impossible as my attention was more focused on what color nail polish would best match my new Chiefettes shirt that I would be wearing to school on Monday. Once my mother and sister arrived to pick me up from the studio, I shook nervously in the back seat, sending messages to my other friends, waiting to find out the news. Both my mother and my sister remained silent, but I knew that they were praying just like I was that I would see my number on that list. As we

Who all can say that they have danced on national television at Walt Disney World? Well now, I can say that I did. I have been on many trips to Disney World but this one was by far the best because I got to be there with my dance team. In a small town like Saltillo it is very rare that any type of athletic team goes and wins state competitions or makes it all the way to a national level but we did. The Saltillo High School dance team of 2014 was the first team to ever go beyond a state competition and do anything on a national level. It was a huge honor for all of us to represent our school in the way we did. From arriving to Disney’s ESPN Resort, to getting ready then preforming was an overall great experience for all of us.

“Yeah, Yeah can you just tell us what place we got?” Mariah said impatiently I laughed and switched my attention to the announcer. “Moving onto awards” the announcer said after 15 minutes of saying unimportant stuff. “Finally” I said under of my breath quietly. Pendleton dance team were all sitting in a circle with big smiles on their faces like as they had already won. They were our biggest competition this competition because our scores were really close first round. When we performed second round most of my teammates were telling us how they messed up which I hated because it made me think

This weekend I, personally did not have much planned. The only activity I attended was a seven-hour dance tryout for the Foley Falconettes Dance Team. At the dance tryout, all the people were made to do learn a dance, jumps and leaps, the splits, and stretch plenty therefore people wouldn’t hurt themselves. I needed to attend this to figure out what team I will be attending this for the winter. After my seven-hour dance tryouts, my family held a campfire. I could sit under the stars and listen to the campfire crackle.

Arriving there was culture shock, thousands of teams were practicing for their big moment in any patch of grass or open area they could find. We arrived at our competition tent on Saturday morning with a rush of emotions. We started with flawless warmup, giving us the confidence to hold our heads high. With the thought in the back of our minds that “ no one has done or attempted this before”, “ we are only one of four teams in northwest Indiana to make it this far”, or “ what if were not good enough”. I stepped up realizing the team was looking at me to guide them through this bittersweet moment. I said calmly “ Ladies we are the best of the best. We have accomplished an incredible amount this season and the outcome of this competition will not take any of that away. I will not ask you to go out there and hit every stunt and throw every tumbling pass perfectly; but I will ask you to go out there and give it all you’ve got. If you walk off that floor without any regrets, thats all I could have ever wanted.”

An extracurricular activity that I have had the pleasure to take part in for the past five years is the Greenwood College School dance team. Starting off as a new and young member of the team, I often faded in the background and followed the instruction of senior students, showing

The comfort zone - I was about to leave it. With my heart pounding violently against my chest, I realize that this adrenaline rush is causing my hands to tremble; I am itching to begin. Auditioning for the MRHS Dance Team marked my transition from a girl who hid in

The countless hours of sweat I had spent on seemingly the hottest days of the summer and once again during the reopening of school, the occasional bruises I would receive when a flyer wasn’t able to hit her spot on time and came tumbling down into my arms, and of course the persistent itch I would feel along my neck from my body suit all served as reminders of one of the biggest aspects of my high school life till date — cheerleading. Ever since I had sat in the bleachers as an 8th grader during the first fall pep rally, I had been mesmerized by the way the uniformed bodies seemed to move in sync. The way they seemed to hit every step with precision, the way their glimmering bows sat atop their head, and the way that confidence radiated off

Hard Work Pays Off Our coaches had told us since the beginning that the months and months we would spend preparing for one particular day would all be worth it in the end. Taking place at New Castle Fieldhouse in early March 2015, I competed in the IHSDTA Dance team competition

This past learning period I have been doing alot of ballet with children. I recently taught a level two ballet class and showed them some of what I will be dancing in the upcoming performance. The children were about 5-8 years old and mostly girls. I had alot of fun teaching them how to do new steps they had never done before and seeing their reactions to me doing things that seem xxxx simple to me. They were so impressed and showed such awe and wonderment that it warmed my heart. In addition, I later went to the Tutu School, a ballet academy specializing in younger dancers. Unlike my school's level two class, the age range was younger as most of the kids were 3-5 years old. Dancers from my ballet school and I performed an exerpt from the