Slideshow 10 extra notes

slide 1: Conant

Sure, they could’ve gone with Cougarettes, but 40-some years ago the poms team at Conant picked the Charrelles! They left the Stevenson comp with some nice accessories signifying a good day in the final rankings.

slide 2: Lane Tech

More and more northern Illinois teams are rediscovering the IDTA circuit. From the NW side of Chicago, Lane Tech is shown hitting the IDTA state floor on February 9th in the hip hop category.

slide 3: Lincoln Way Central

At the LZ competition on 12/1, the Rhythm Knights battled against teams they don’t often see and definitely caught the attention of the north suburban dance community. 

slide 4: Wheaton North competition

Years ago, the Wheaton North comp was an early January tradition. Over the past few years the Falconettes have hosted an early or mid-November comp, an interesting chance to get some early feedback for these teams.

slide 5: Hampshire

They were one of our featured teams back in 2016, and since then, the program’s continued to grow. Their dancers did a nice job showing off that growth when they performed at the Crystal Lake Central competition on December 2nd.

slide 6: St. Francis

It’s a nice, albeit kind of snug, dance room for the SFHS dance team in Wheaton. I got to visit with them on a beautiful early October afternoon while they worked on a halftime hip hop routine.

slide 7: Loyola

One of the reasons we try to go to football and basketball games is to see dance teams in their original throwback role. Loyola’s football stadium is spectacular, fitting for an elite football program. We watched the Ramblerettes do sidelines and halftime back on Saturday 9/8. 

slide 8: Princeton

It’s hard to describe where Princeton, IL is, but you can count it among the small town teams from the northern half of the state. Even though they didn’t go to IHSA sectionals, the team looked pretty good at UDA camp in Peoria back in July.

slide 9: Fenton JV

Top-tier programs keep going because their JVs are stellar in their own right. These dancers put their sharp costumes to good use in a very entertaining hip hop performance at the DeKalb comp in mid-December.

slide 10: Minnesota state competition

I can’t get enough of how their awards sessions look. All the teams line up vertically and if they advance to finals, they step forward. This shot is from their state weekend back on February 15th and 16th.

slide 11: Crystal Lake Central

A few days before state, I stopped by to check in on the CLC Dance Team. I was proud to sit in on the start of the last week of practices leading up to IHSA state for Coaches Heckman and Madson. I still remember working with all the state teams they danced on back in the day wearing the CLC uniform!

slide 12: Benton

We worked with Benton on their IDTA hip hop music this season. Here’s the team after a busy day at the February 2nd comp at Highland.

slide 13: York

The defending 3A champs worked hard at refining their fantastic dance all throughout January. Here’s just one of many artistic moments from their Day 2 performance at IHSA state.

slide 14: Highland

Even watching from the wrong side, you can tell Highland is exquisite at the turning game. Their amazing dancers brought this dance to both IHSA and IDTA state, and this clip is from the January 5th IDTA/IHSA competition at Edwardsville.