The new year can come with new opportunities and experiences. Changes in the Nixa High School dance team have set the stage for the upcoming competition season this January. The dance team is getting an early start on choreography.
The coaches are trying a different approach to getting performance-ready. The competition team is set to start practicing their routines early this season.
“We are learning our dances earlier on in the season, it’s going to be a lot less stressful whenever it gets to competition time,” junior Madelyn Genuchi said. “It’s better that we learn [the dances] earlier – like we did this year – so we kind of have it down and have time to practice it.”
Multiple team members have noticed some positives of starting the competition routine prep earlier.
“Our team already has learned [the routines]. We started really early,” captain and senior Ava Weaver said.
A new school year means brand new dance recruits, new team dynamics and more growth.
“We have some freshmen,” Genuchi said. “They’re really good. We have a couple new sophomores that came in and are really good. I also feel like our team dynamic is a lot better this year. We’re all closer together.”
Team bonding can play an important role in competitions.
Senior Gabriella Anton-Gifford has danced with the dance team for all four years of her high school career. Her junior year she earned a special title.
“I got to be a sisterhood leader,” Gifford said. “I got to plan a lot of different events. … Anything that has student team bonding was kind of my gig.”
Even though the competition team is getting an early start this year, the dancers still put in work and dedication as they work to perfect their choreography.
“During competition season, [practice] is close to every single day,” Gifford said. “It’s very hard. You are practicing for hours on end. … We get a lot of things done, we clean our routines, we make sure that everything looks good. Every practice is working as hard as you possibly can.”
Sophomore on the dance team Brylee Welch says the growth from last year to this year is noticeable.
“Each year we’ve gotten better as a team, not just physically, but mentally,” Welch said. “We’ve learned to take criticism better, but we’ve also grown in skills as a team, which I’m really proud of [us] for that.”
Friday night game performances also can take quite a bit of practice.
“Monday, Tuesday and Thursday we have dance practice,” Weaver said. “Then Fridays are normally game days and Sundays are normally practice.”
The Nixa dance team will continue the pursue of goals.
“It’s a lot of togetherness,” Genuchi said. “Which sometimes can bring some ups and downs, but most of the time it’s really great.”
