With the beginning of 2025 comes fresh starts but for the dance world, the start of a new year means the end of a season. The BV West Crimson Cats dance team is traveling to Orlando, Fla. to compete at Dance Team Union (DTU) nationals Wednesday Feb.12 through Monday Feb.17.
When asked about nationals, varsity captain senior Maya Edwards said, “Going to nationals takes lots of commitment and dedication but when our team works together it pays off. At nationals, we spend the first couple days practicing wherever we can find the space, whether it’s in a dance studio, hotel lobby, parking garages, or even by the pool. During these practices we run our dances as much as we can to make sure that nothing goes wrong when we’re performing. These practices are really tough but make us grow strong as a team because we all are in them together.”
The team is taking both JV and varsity to compete and both teams will perform a pom, mix, and game day routine. The choreography was taught in the summer and perfected over the year.
Pom is a style of dance that is a mix between hip hop and hard hitting jazz. The dancers hold pom poms throughout the entire dance. Pom is very different from other styles of dance. The technique is very precise and the motions have to hit every time.
Mix is a combination of different styles of dance performed in one routine. The dance starts with pom, then hip hop, kick, and lastly jazz. Most of the time, the dance follows a theme that can be recognized from song choices, costumes and props. Varsity’s theme this year is 80s workout. At the beginning of the dance, the team holds makeshift dumbbells instead of actual pom poms. JV’s theme is party. This is shown by the team wearing little party hats in their hair and bright blue costumes.
Gameday routines are made up of three short dances in one. Gameday is essentially a spirit showdown. Whoever shows the most school spirit while still dancing strong and clean, wins. The first section is fight song. Fight song is a sharp and strong pom with lots of vocals added in to engage the audience. The second section is band chant. Band chant is a sideline based dance that has a little more flow then fight song. The last section is halftime. Halftime can be any style of dance that the team desires. Varsity has decided to do a pom with a Chiefs/NFL theme and JV has chosen a rock and roll themed pom. In between each section a chant is started by one of the dancers. This is for crowd involvement and to give the dancers a chance to breathe before the next section.
Although the team will be traveling to sunny Florida to compete, they only get one of six days of full relaxation. From the minute they get there, their schedule is full. They travel from different practice spaces throughout the day with only small breaks in between. The girls have a 7:30 a.m. wake up call for breakfast and a meeting with the coaches. At 8:15 a.m. they head to the first practice space until 11:30 a.m.. They have a lunch break but head to the next practice space at 12:45 p.m.. It’s back to the hotel around 5 p.m. and after dinner there is a meeting with the coaches. They are locked in their rooms at 9:30 p.m..
At the end of each day, the dancers have to turn in their phones into their coaches and get taped into their rooms. Coach Lauren Wilson said that “Taking their phones away encourages the dancers to stay focused on the competition and limits the outside distractions. Doing this also helps the girls bond more because they don’t have their phones as interruptions.”
The team is divided into groups of four for the hotel rooms. The girls are basically living with each other for almost a week and most of the bonding is done within the rooms when they get taped in for the night.
Sophomore Mady Bakker said, “We tell stories and just laugh with each other. It is dreadful to turn in our phones and get locked in but that is when we make the best memories which we look forward to every year.”
Even though the environment is intimidating and competitive, the girls still find a way to have fun and enjoy the moments they get with each other.
The team leaves Wednesday, Feb. 12 and competes Friday, Saturday and hopefully Sunday if they make finals.
