Ladies and gentlemen, the circus has come to town. Instead of sporting acrobats and performing animals, however, this circus stars an amazing group of dancers– one that has long been the pride of Willis High School.
The dance team will host a competition starting today and continuing through Saturday. It will be just one stop on the circus tour this spring.
On Saturday, Feb. 14, the Sweethearts hit the ground running at their first competition. They took home first place in their Game Day and Novelty routines, and second place with their Contemporary. In terms of their numerous awards, they’ve already improved from this time last year. For some of these girls, it will be their last year dancing, and they’ve resolved to give it their all.
“Over the years I’ve become more acquainted with contest season,” senior Haylee Light said. “Now, I have the mentality of this being my last year and giving whatever I have left, for both myself and my team. Sometimes I just have to tell myself it’s going to be a long and hard day, but we’re still going to do our very best.”
For the more experienced members of the team, they showed off their Elite Lyrical routine, and brought back a golden first place.
“The win from Elite felt well deserved,” Social Officer sophomore Sophie Hazel said. “We had put so much work into the dance and the performance felt so powerful. We could really feel that the routine lit up the room, and that was rewarding in and of itself.”
In addition to their four group routines, many of the girls performed personal solos, many of whom choreographed their own dances and put together personal costumes.
“I competed my first ever solo, and the process was intense, but so much fun,” sophomore Madilene Bradfute said. “The preparations started back in October with the choreography, then in December when I finished putting together my costume, and last weekend, I got to show it off on the floor. Solos can be intimidating at first, but it’s a really fun way to express yourself without having to worry about matching everyone else.”
The girls are already gearing up for their national competition in Galveston, and are surely going to put on an incredible show to blow the crowds away.
“We have taken the time to listen and apply the feedback from the competition judges,” Sweethearts Director Kaylee Minnis said. “Together we dissected the routines on what went well, what needs the most time to fix, and where the girls can show accountability and tweak on their own. We will use the extra few weeks to deep dive into those weaker areas of our routines, and try to put our best product on the floor at the end of March.”
