For the second year in a row, the Silver Stars Dance Team came back to Fenton with a top ten finish in the National Dance Team Competition (NDTC). The Falcons achieved ninth place in the Small Varsity Division Two Game Day performance. They also competed in pom and jazz categories.
NDTC Finals were on Feb. 1, but the Silver Stars practice for months in preparation for their performance on the big stage. Head Coach Erin Taylor said that the dancers practice throughout the week, focusing on previous critiques, and focusing on sharpening their technique.
“We practice three times a week, sometimes with added practices for competitions. We look through the score and we see what places where we feel like we can improve. We watch it at different angles, we try to find things that are catching our eye so that we can work through things that are going to create the biggest impact on our routine,” Taylor said.
Working towards Nationals, older mentors on the team help by creating a positive environment for the dancers to keep them pushing to be their best self. Senior captain Allie Cross said that one of her biggest goals is to keep an optimistic mindset, and attitude towards dance, and her teammates.
“I try to stay really positive. Anytime we’re doing something in practice, I try to help lift everyone up even [if it is] a hard practice. I just like trying to keep it fun, because it [preparing for nationals] can be a really serious time,” Cross said.
With the amount of work put into their performance, seeing the results is an emotional, exciting moment for dancers and coaches alike. Taylor said that seeing the perseverance of her dancers pay off is an amazing experience.
“Last year was a record, you know, historic for us. Then to repeat makes it even harder, so to see our hard work pay off is everything,” Taylor said.
Due to the amount of effort poured into performances, the NDTC is a coveted experience for high school dancers. Cross said that seeing the best dance teams in the country is motivating, and encourages the team to constantly get better.
“I feel like we can really take [the best teams] as inspiration. We know how all of these good teams look so we [want to] look as good as them too,” Cross said.
Having chemistry with your team coming into the high stakes of the NDTC is crucial to having a strong performance, Cross said.
“I feel like this year we have a super close team and you could really tell that we’re all doing it for each other, we’re out there, we don’t give up because there are other girls who are dancing for us and we dance for them too. So I think that closeness of this team just helps us [create] stronger performances,” Cross said.
Taylor said that she sees Silver Stars as an opportunity to not just dance, but as a chance to create relationships that are special to dancers.
“It’s really important that it’s more than just about the dance, the team aspect of dance team is something that’s different than anything that I’ve ever experienced in my life before this. So it’s important to trust one another, love one another, and like, feel connected on the floor, and just in life,” Taylor said.