Last Friday, November 12th, BSM hosted the 16th annual Catholic Jamboree dance competition. In attendance were dance teams from Totino-Grace, St. Cloud Cathedral, and Academy of Holy Angels.

Catholic Jamboree is the first dance competition of the season. It includes dance teams from Catholic schools in and surrounding the metro area, with its main purpose to raise money for a good cause, and showcase the skills they’ve learned so far. With the meet being so early in the winter dance season, mistakes are bound to happen. However, BSM did their best given the timing. “It was a little bit stressful because it was such an early competition, but I think it was for a really good cause, so it made all the stress worth it,” sophomore Hannah Blackwood said.

Every year, the school that is hosting gets to select a charity to which the money, raised from ticket admissions and raffles, will be donated to. This year, BSM raised $2,600 and decided to donate the money to someone who is in the dance community. Senior Layla Julien, a dancer on the Minnetonka dance team, was recently diagnosed with a brain tumor, and to show their support, the event was dedicated to her. “The money’s going towards all those medical bills, because that is obviously a lot to be thrown on a high schooler. We just wanted to help her out, especially since she’s one of us,” junior captain Gabby Nyquist said.

Competing for BSM were our varsity jazz and kick and JV jazz and kick teams. Jazz, which combines classical ballet and modern dance, as well as current forms of popular dance, is a lot different from kick. Kick is sharp, intense, and involves many kick lines. “In jazz you have more freedom when you dance, and you can add your own styles. Versus in kick you have to be more sharp and on it,” Blackwood said.

The competition is early in the season, so scores aren’t a significant factor, however, BSM did rank well. “We don’t do an official award ceremony, but we do get ranked. Varsity jazz, varsity kick, JV kick all got first. And JV jazz ended up getting second place,” Nyquist said.

With the Catholic Jamboree being the first competition of the season, the dancers are happy to have the first competition under their belts, and are excited for what’s to come. “I’m excited for more team bonding and to see how the dances evolve over the course of the season,” Blackwood said.