With sports being affected by COVID last year, there were minimal opportunities for the dance team to perform. This year, they hope to improve the team and build it up to have more representation in the school.

Nicole Folkedahl and Amanda Holcomb are coaches for the team and hope to get them to the levels of other schools. In doing so, Folkedahl says they have to promote and get more attention to the team to have a bigger team in the future.

“I would like to be able to go to competitions. I would like to be able to see a lot harder tricks. And I’d like to see a lot more students try out for the dance team,” said Folkedahl.

Folkedahl started helping coach last year and has continued to help this year. Her goal is to teach the newer members the basics. Once they learn that, they will move on to harder moves that rely on more advanced techniques and training.

“Right now, I show them basic dance movements. A lot of the kids that come in, they have no dance background, so they don’t know simple things like to point that toe or what a pirouette is. So, I’m teaching them basic dance steps and basic terminology,” said Folkedahl.

Dance team co-captain Chenille Funmaker Rosario also hopes to take the team to the next level.

“Keep improving skills better and better. And hopefully, we all can be in sync as a whole team,” said Rosario.

Freshman Bella Rowan is a new member of the team and has no past dance experience. The small group consists of members who have been dancing their whole lives, who have little experience and have none at all.

“I saw that that was an option for one of the things for the winter sports. And I was interested to join it because I’ve been trying to kind of explore what sports I like and don’t like. And I thought it’d be really interesting to join because I like music, and I like dancing,” said Rowan.

Most people who join the team have both a passion for dancing and like to try something new. Many of the past team members graduated, leaving them with only two who have been on the team before.

“I chose to join the dance team because I just really enjoy dancing. And I’ve done it for eight years. So once I heard, I was like, I’m going to join, because I feel like I would be able to teach other kids that came in on dance again this year,” said Rosario.

They are optimistic that the changes they are making will positively impact the school.

“I hope that people are enthusiastic about this and open-minded and willing to do something different and out of their comfort zone. So I really hope that people see the changes. And that they acknowledge the changes and they’re supportive of the changes, and they like the changes and then, therefore, will support the new changes or support the things that the girls or dancers are learning,” said Folkedahl.

Their main issue is that they have very little support, lack of participation and lack of commitment. The team hopes that they can promote dance more so they have an even bigger and better team for the future this year.

“It feels nice to, like, rely on your team and like to be able to talk with your group. And it’s enjoyable, probably because of the team. I like being part of something,’ said Rowan.