Dance team travels to Orlando for nationals

The dance team traveled to Orlando, Florida for the National Dance Team Championships on Saturday, Feb.11. There were 365 teams across the country competing with 20 of them being from Nebraska. The dance team made it to the semifinals and placed 14th in the pom event. Dancer Gianna Ryan knew the Warriors were ready for the competition.

“Going into nationals I felt prepared because I knew what we were capable of and that we just needed to follow through,” Ryan said. 

The dance team had been practicing a lot leading up to nationals and many other competitions.

“To prepare for a competition we have to practice every other morning and Sunday. During these practices we drill our dances and cleanse them so our dances are clean,” Ryan said.

When the dance team arrived at nationals they felt ready and that they were prepared.

“After nationals I felt very good because we did well as a whole and felt that it was the best we could have done. All our hard work paid off when we made it into finals and placed 14th in the nation,” Ryan said.

“My favorite part of the trip was that I got to spend a week with the people I love while doing something that I love. My least favorite part of the trip was leaving and how we were stuck in the airport.” Ryan said.

Dancer Isla Wear said the team felt very confident going into nationals. 

“Those 6 a.m. morning practices and three plus hour practices over winter break were really tough but it was worth it in the end! We had a goal that we made our very first summer practice which was to make finals, and we made finals in pom!” Wear said. 

The dance team was supposed to travel to Grand Island for the State Dance championships on Thursday, but due to bad weather the competition got canceled. The 2022-2023 dance season is now over and the dancers are starting to gear up for tryouts this spring.