Team of 10 twirls into competition season
The Pantherettes dance team preps for competition season by performing before every home varsity football game.
December 9, 2015
“As a team, I think one of our main goals is to always set the bar high and challenge ourselves to do better,” junior co-captain Kenzie Johnson said. The Pantherette dance team plan on taking this season by storm, competing in two new competitions this year and keeping their eyes on the gold.
The Pantherettes underwent a makeover this year, accepting five new members in addition to a new coach, math teacher Vicki Morgan. A few Pantherettes whom Morgan had as students in previous years approached her about taking the head coach position.
“I decided to take the position because I love the girls,” Morgan said. “I love watching them even though I don’t have a dance background, and I knew that I would enjoy working with them.”
Assuming the position as a dance team coach comes with several responsibilities and duties. Morgan serves as an adviser, running approvals through the school for all competitions and overseeing the Pantherettes booster club.
Morgan began her preparation as the new coach toward the end of last school year. She took the place of the previous coach, German teacher Antonela Kljajic, who is focusing more on her classes and choreographing for the drama department.
Morgan, alongside Pantherette coach and choreographer Nichole Martin from Georgia Academy of Dance and the Performing Arts, kicked off the 2015-16 dance team year with the football season. The Pantherettes performed during the pre-game show at every home varsity game.
With the football season at a close, the dance team will focus its attention on competitions. “I like competition season best because our team gets a chance to show off what we’ve been working on the whole year,” junior Catherine Dorr said.
Senior Maya Scarborough and junior Christie Shanahan have been on the team since their freshman years and lead the team as captains alongside Johnson. Dorr and junior Lauren Scott, sophomore Lauren Bachkosky and freshmen Gracen O’Neal, Isabelle Bowman, Ella Wood and Jordan Delong compose the remainder of the team.
“Dance team has really shown me what it is to be a team player and to think outside of just myself,” first-year member Scott said.
The Pantherettes began their competition season at the Smoky Mountain Christmas Competition on Dec. 5. “We placed fourth in jazz and sixth in pom,” Scott said. “We were disappointed with the outcome, but we did really well.”
Last year’s team competed in the Heritage Five Stars Competition in Ringgold, taking first in both Pom and Jazz. Instead of returning to this competition, the team is attending another competition in Hoover, Alabama on Jan. 23.
“The girls won [Heritage Five Stars] last year, so they felt like they wanted more of a challenge,” Morgan said. The Hoover competition also provides additional feedback from the Universal Dance Association which Ringgold does not include.
The Pantherettes will return to two competitions from their previous season. The team was runner up in pom and jazz in the state competition held at McIntosh, which will be held on Feb. 6. It also competed at nationals in Disney World during the 2014-15 season, and they will be going back again this year on Jan. 30 and 31.
“I’m most looking forward to going to Disney with my team and creating memories at all of the parks,” Scott said. “Disney shuts down Hollywood Studios just for us on one of the days, so we will get to have fun with other teams there and ride Tower of Terror as much as we want.”
In preparation for their competition season, the dance team members practice five days a week as opposed to only two days of practice for football season. “We started adding Saturday practices in addition to some mornings and Monday and Wednesday afternoons,” Morgan said.
This season also poses a chance at redemption and comebacks. Injuries are somewhat of a natural occurrence in the dance world, but there’s almost no room for them since the team relies on each dancer. “I originally hurt myself in the beginning of August and had to sit out for about a month,” Dorr said. “I popped my knee cap out of place, causing a bone bruise and sprain, and recently I figured out that I stretched a ligament in my knee as well.”
In spite of any set backs, the Pantherettes are prepared to leap into the dance team competition season. “I hope to grow as a good role model for my team and for other girls that want to join dance team,” Scott said. “I want to be able to represent my team and my school with the best of my ability.”
