It’s the most wonderful week of the year for the dance team. What week is it? That’s right, you guessed it, it’s state week. Coming off of a successful weekend of sections the team has guaranteed themselves two spots at the Minnesota State Dance Team Tournament this weekend.

The Knightettes danced their hearts out at Chisago Lakes high school placing 2nd in both jazz and high kick. The competition was tough as they went head to head with their biggest rival Totino Grace — who took the section title — and are craving a rematch this weekend on the state floor.

The competition will take place at Target Center in downtown Minneapolis beginning with the preliminary AA jazz tournament at 2:00 pm on Friday (as stated in the Tournament Schedule). The girls hope to make it to the final competition that night at 7:15 pm where they will get one final chance to show the judges what they can do before final placements are given later that night. The tournament will resume at 2:00 pm again on Saturday afternoon where they will kick off (no pun intended) the AA high kick portion of the tournament. Similar to Friday nights schedule, if the girls advance past prelims, the final competition will be held that night.

The Benilde-St. Margaret’s dance team has a plethora of traditions associated with state week that they have been continuing throughout the years. The most popular tradition the team loves to uphold is the weeklong team dress up. The humor and uniformity of the longstanding dress-up tradition help ease the jitters that come along with state week. On Monday they sported a comfy onesie accompanied by two high pigtails. Tuesday the team is bringing out their beloved leotards — a piece of fashion the team is known for — along with space buns and red lipstick. Wednesday the Knightettes are keeping it simple with joggers, a team sweatshirt and french braids. The final dress-up day for the dancers features a classic dance team shoe: the jazz shoe — the shoes the girls wear while dancing. “One of my favorite parts of state week is definitely send off because we get our parents to do a fun skit and we get to listen to senior speeches. And it’s really fun all week because you get to bond with who you are rooming with and this is just a huge team bonding week,” senior Caroline Pauly said.

Though this is the last week of practice for the girls, the work doesn’t stop now. In fact, this week the girls will push themselves to the absolute limits to make sure they are as prepared as possible for the battle that lies ahead. With 2.5-3 hour practices every day, the girls have ample time to continue tweaking and cleaning their dances to perfection before they go out for the last time this weekend. “I’ve been on the team for 6 years and this is by far my favorite year. We are all so close and ready to make it happen and just do it for each other,” senior captain Molly Segner said.

Their motto “make it happen” is ever prominent and relevant this week as this is their chance to really make it happen. The competition will be tough and the fans are excited for the day when the 2018-19 dance team steps out onto the floor for the last time this season. “I’m so proud of the younger girls and have so much confidence in every girl out on the floor,” Segner said.