by Norm Ramil / 8ca.music.person & dance.fan

We’re absolutely excited to get to know our first Missouri team! Dance is thriving in that state thanks to teams like the Hillsboro Hawkettes. They compete in the Missouri Dance Team Association (MODTA) in multiple categories, with a state season that starts with springtime auditions and then wraps up in late February at MODTA’s culminating competition. Many Missouri teams also spend the late winter prepping to dance at nationals (the Hawkettes go to NDA’s).

Hillsboro, Missouri sits on the edge of the the St. Louis metro area, around 39 miles south of the Gateway Arch downtown. The Hawkettes Dance Team has a long history of dancing at the elite St. Charles (Missouri) Classic each winter, a huge competition that even attracts Illinois teams like Highland from across the border. Summer’s also busy for these dancers. Just a few weeks ago, they ran a raffle at the Jefferson County Rodeo where a lucky winner took home a pair of cowboy boots! And this is cool: just a couple tweets earlier, the Hawkettes showed off the fact that they’re bringing a strong turning game, including going left. (You can catch a glimpse of the Hawkettes’ comp seasons on their Twitter (@hawkettesdance) and Instagram (@hhawkettes))

Official Team Name

Hillsboro Hawkettes

Categories

(Missouri MODTA 2018 Finals) 2nd in Kick, 4th in Lyrical in their division

Coach

Cassondra Patterson

Team Breakdown

Here’s our email interview with Coach Patterson:

Tell us about your team’s technical specialties…

Our specialities lean more towards kick technique, with our turns not too far behind.

Last year the the team really struggled with Hip Hop, but I have seen improvement from the beginning of last season to now. We look forward to improving on our acrobatic skills for the 2018-2019 season. Last year, we only had 1 girl who had her aerial coming onto the team. Now we have 3 girls and possibly 3 more to come soon.

Which categories will you be competing in?

We will be competing in 3 categories this season: Kick, Lyrical, and Mix.

What skills are required to try out for the team?

Right/left/middle splits
Toe touch
Kicks
Leg extension/hold-Front & Side
Double pirouette (minimum)
Turns in Seconde
Grande jete
Technique, execution, showmanship
Ability to grasp choreography quickly

Do your dancers have studio / technical backgrounds?

The majority of the girls have had technical/studio training or competitive cheer training.

What is your practice schedule like?

Our schedule in the summer starts in the beginning of June to the end of July. Practices run from 8am-10am every day in the commons (cafeteria) the majority of the time, with few days/times to get gym use.

Once school is in session practices become later in the evening from 2:30-5:00pm everyday in the commons. On Fridays we run our football game routines for about 30 mins on the football field after school then continue practice inside before the girls get ready for the game.

During homecoming week, the girls practice from 2:30pm to sometimes 9pm at night every day up until the big pep rally. They perform a 10 minute routine with the cheerleaders and a 2 minute routine as well.

When competition season rolls around, we add Saturday practices to our mix plus 6am practices before school starts.

What’s your practice space like?

Our practice is located in the commons a.k.a the cafeteria at the high school. Sometimes we do get to use the gym at the intermediate school location. If we want to use the gym, the girls must practice at 6am or push practice back to start at 6pm.

Our everyday practice space is shared with multiple clubs and teams at the same time. It’s very chaotic. One end you have the cheerleaders, on the other end you sometimes have the color guard, you have after school clubs in the center of the cafteria, ourselves, the Hawkettes, to the side of the lunch tables, plus the track team also using the same side as we are.

I don’t know how my girls do it with all the distraction around them and still perform as well as they do. They are phenomenal and I am super proud of them.

Can you tell us about your coaching background?

I have been dancing for 24 years and teaching for 8 years. I have performed in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in 2009 at New York City. Throughout my years I have danced at multiple venues, college performances and was on my college dance team. I have taught at multiple studios, competitive/non-competitive, but I now teach at two local studios. I have been teaching at Dietrich Dance Studio since 2012 teaching in Acro, Pointe, & Contemporary. In 2016, I joined Formations Dance Center as their Acro instructor. I continue as their Acro instructor adding multiple recreational classes, advanced technique and competitive routines to my schedule.

This is my second year as the Head Coach for the Hillsboro Hawkettes.

What’s your coaching philosophy?

“Focus on what you can control, not what you can’t.”

Any favorite memories from the past season?

Seeing the girls have fun and work hard together as a team at NDA summer dance camp.

What goes on during the summer and fall months?

We are currently preparing for NDA summer dance camp at Southeast Missouri University in mid-July. We will then return home and work with the Jr. Hawkettes, teaching select routines we learned at NDA for their game days.

We also work a lot with our Mini Hawkettes. We hold a two-day camp and teach a fun dance for grades k-6th for either a football or basketball game at the high school. At the end of the year, we bring back our Mini Hawkettes for our Annual Pom Expo to perform one last time for the school year. We invite local dance studios, Hawkette dad’s, and the infamous Hawk Hotties to all perform at our Pom Expo.

Another major team bonding we have is Homecoming week. The Hawkettes and cheerleaders come together to create a 10-15 minute routine that they perform at the homecoming pep rally and Friday night football game. Seniors from both teams pick the music and choreograph the entire routine themselves, making sure Hawkette choreography and the cheerleaders stunts mesh well together.

Throughout the entire year we hold multiple fundraisers, such as:
Hangout with the Hawkettes
Supplying Krispy Kremes at football games
Summer carwashes
And this year we are holding a Trivia Night to help raise money for Nationals.

What are some past highlights of the Hawkettes dance program?

Every year the Hillsboro Hawkettes place First in Kick at every competition besides State. At the 2016 NDA Nationals they placed 8th in SV Kick, 15th in MV Jazz and 18th in MV pom. We have had multiple former Hawkettes move onto the college dance level and currently have one who is an assistant coach for a high school dance team.