Personal Narrative: The Sartell Dance

From the first day I walked into the dance studio at 3 years old, I knew I wanted to be a dancer. From age 6-13 I got straight a’s, had many friends, and danced at least 10 hours a week. I thought high school would be the same, but the reality was I had to make new friends and the school load was harder. I decided freshmen year to join the robotics team but soon enough I learned it fell on the same day as dance. In the past I wouldn’t have given dance up for anything, but I decided to join. That same year, I auditioned for Inlet Dance Theatre’s Summer Intensive and received a scholarship and an opportunity to perform with Inlet’s professional dance company on Cain Park’s stage but I had broken my foot two days before the show. Dancing with

Marie and I had just left her house and were walking to the tryouts. It was a really quick walk because she lives only 2 houses away from the studio. This was back in August 2017, a few days after dance camp ended for the summer. We hurried down the stairs to go inside and kept talking about how nervous and excited we were the whole way down. Once we got inside of Bleker’s, we started talking to the other girls. After just a few minutes we were all taken into the dance room and together we all learned a hip hop, jazz, and tap routine. We only had about 30 minutes to learn all of the routines so we were all feeling a little rushed. Before we knew it, the dance teachers put us into groups of 3-5 girls. These groups were the people we would perform our dance routines with. My group was Meghan S, Grace, and I.

Suddenly My mom started to finally understand how nervous I was about this it was like a light bulb was on top of her head and it had just turned on. Then she explained how it won’t be as scary because I would be practicing everything with my dance teacher Mrs.Dawnell. Also, she told me that I would get to practice with my friends, But she also told me that we would have to practice doing our interviews. I was even more scared of that even though it was just going to be practice. I can’t even imagine what i’m going to feel when i’m in interviews with the judges.

My mouth hung open as I watched the gorgeous, graceful girls leap and twirl across the gym floor during their annual summer mini-camp. From that point forward, I knew that I wanted to be a Chiefette. I studied up on the history of the team, watched every one of their public performances, and enrolled in dance team preparation classes. Each year, the Chiefettes got better and better, and during each dance, their pirouettes and jetes grabbed my heart and carried me with them through their emotional journey. Their movement quality astounded me; I wasn’t exactly sure how a team of so many girls could dance in unison with seemingly effortless grace. I knew from talking to the girls on the elite team that they maintained excellent grades, participated in other school activities and sports, and volunteered within the community. These girls were my idols, and I thought that the only way to have a positive high school experience was to join the dance team. There was no question in my mind that I would be on the team all four years of high school, and because I had prior dance experience, that I would be one of the better dancers on the team. Throughout middle school, I dreamed about the day when I would finally be able to call myself a Chiefette, but I soon realized that I had no idea the amount of hard work and talent that it took to earn that

"I'm going to play the music once, and you're going to close your eyes and think about the dance. Ready?" Kaitlyn said while we were still waiting in the dressing

On the team, I automatically became involved at school, performing at every home football and basketball game, but I also became spirited. Dance Team is where I learned the opportunity to become an ambassador of our school. Now I not only supported our school, but also represented it. As a team we strived to hold good reputations, on and off the field. I loved supporting our athletes teams fuelled by the energy of the crowds. I found a new confidence within, that I easily shown on stage.

As I walked into the intermediate room at Monsters of Hip-Hop, the nerves inside of me built up like a hot air balloon. I was stretching in jealousy of other girls and boys as they showed their amazing talents. I start to worry if I mess up on the choreography, out of nowhere the choreographer Laura Edwards comes in. I look at my mom in fear,

Our team sat in the hallway of our school, waiting for our name to be called to enter the gym. The pregame jitters were everywhere. Girls were bouncing up and down, fanning themselves and skittering around. I had a flood of emotions inside me. I was mostly excited but also quite nervous. What if my parents didn’t like the dance? What if my peers don’t like the dance? What if it looks bad? I couldn’t help but doubt the routine in a time of such nervousness. Our coach gave us each her routine good-luck shoulder shakes, and I knew the time had come. I heard the crowded gym fall quiet.

It all started last year, when I was in the 8th grade and I finally decided to go to Clayton Valley. My entire family has always gone to private school; so, I would be the first to go to a charter high school. Since I was going to CV, I wanted to tryout for a sport so it would be easier to make friends. I was going to tryout for basketball since I have played it since 3rd grade, but I never had a true love for it. My siblings were always into sports, and I get that. But I was always into more of the showy-girly activities. I have always loved to dance, and when my friend Jessie told me there was going to be cheer tryouts I was excited, yet nervous. I can’t even tumble! Would I be good enough? Would the other girls laugh at me? Could I stay

The fastest way for a performer’s career to end is with an unexpected injury. My freshman year I suffered patella luxation, more commonly known as the dislocation of the kneecap. I was in a full leg brace for a month and a half, and then participated in physical therapy over summer break until I was cleared to return to dance for my sophomore year. The time I had to spend recuperating forced me to explore other pathways associated with my art.

“Oww,” I winced as my knee buckled for about the millionth time that day as I tried to practice my pirouettes for the dance audition starting in a couple of minutes. “Come on” I thought to myself wondering why my knee chose this exact time, this was important, I needed to nail this audition so that I could earn myself a spot in Company 2 this year. It was heart wrenching to think that I could be in Company 1 in 7th grade! “Get in order according to your number,” the dance teacher noted and I did as fast as I could,everyone knew that auditions were a non nonsense matter.Finally, the audition started, the Dance Instructor lead the stretching routine and then told us to go across the floor, he taught us what we needed to show and turned on the music. I thought to myself ,”run, run arms rounded in first when you run; a brush

As soon as I get home, I call a family meeting. “Guess what? Ms. Taryn is bringing a couple of students to the World Ballet Championship, and she has invited me!”

The tryouts were pretty much a “show me what you can do” stage. We did a practice dance to show the owners of the event we are ready. A week later, I got a text saying we got in and we have to be there the next week. I called my friends to tell them that we got in, and we started to practice. We went to the local park to practice and have fun. We were excited for the week to come.

Every year, the older girls on the team are paired with one of the younger girls as a mentor. The goal as a “big buddy” is to show your “little buddy” that dance was not just about how well you place at awards, that dance is about expressing yourself in a way that builds your confidence and helps you realize that hard work pays off. You just have to be willing to take the comments given to you. Claire Binguit recalled the moment when a critique changed her outlook on everything: “the most memorable feedback I've ever gotten was from ms carol saying "if you weren't so lazy you could be great step it up I know you have the potential and I believe in you"”. Aleah Soliman, a member of the teen team, recalls a recent time when a teacher's comment boosted her confidence, “my teacher told me how good my solo looked after just a couple weeks doing it”. From my experience in my own solo and my many many years of listening to comments from judges and teachers, I have learned that although some comments can be extremely hard to hear, they are meant to make you better and will help you in the long run. Everyone at the studio is actively applying their comments which results in better scores, which results in wins at competitions, which again is the main goal of being on the competitive team.

I'm so excited, this is my first year on the dance team! I'm probably the youngest on the team because I'm only 6 years old but I know that I’m going to do great. The dance team is at a studio called Patti Herm School of Dance. It’s in Otsego which is about 20 minutes away from my house. The studio is pretty small so everyone knows everyone but since I'm new to the team I don't really know anyone yet. Some of the older girls have talked to me and helped me out when I needed it but I don't remember their names because I'm really bad with names.