Fall dance team stronger than ever

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Kendel Malcolm

The team holds a pose perfectly, while senior captain Natalie Chevalier adds a little fun to the practice.

Fall sports have finally begun, and this means the Dance Team is training hard for their upcoming performances and winter season. This year they will be putting on a halftime show at all three of the home football games. They are also preparing a dance for the Homecoming pep fest, which they are especially excited about. This year’s dance will feature some more advanced skills, such as lifts and throws. “This years dance should be a lot more fun to watch and a lot more fun to do,” senior captain Natalie Chevalier said. The team will also be putting on their annual boy-girl dance routine, which is a huge treat for the students as they will get to see their friends attempt to dance like the girls. “This years guy-girl dance will be really cute! And the boys are being really good sports about the whole thing,” senior captain Kendel Malcolm said.

In order to perform at such a high level the team trains vigorously throughout the fall season. Each practice begins with a 2-3 mile run or 20 to 30 minutes of intense conditioning. Then depending on how much time the team has they will either do skills across the floor or go right into rehearsing the actual dance.

The team does a lot of prep work for the football game dances not just in the weeks prior to the performance but the night of as well. “We have to be at Benilde two hours before the performance to finish hair and makeup and also to stretch before the performance,” Malcolm said. Once they head out to the turf they do some final stretching if its cold and try to calm the butterflies in their stomachs before their big performance, a routine they will perform four times in total this year.