Slideshow 2 extra notes
slide 1: St. Francis
I’ve always thought that the St. Francis program under Coach Aretese Low has shown a studio-like flair when they hit the comp floor, so it was so fitting to see them on stage at their showcase back on February 7th! It was so cool how Coach Low had a personalized message for each girl before her solo.
slide 2: Jacobs
New coach Cristy Felten teamed up with veteran assistant Alli Sitko to lead the HDJ dance program through another productive season. I was so happy to see these girls succeed because we’ve worked together for 8 awesome seasons. Here they are celebrating at the Crystal Lake Central comp back on December 2nd.
slide 3: Lincoln-Way West
They’re ultra-popular for a good reason! This clip comes courtesy of our fantastic staffer Paige who witnessed these hip hop experts dance to a 2nd place conference (SWSC Red Division) finish back on January 9th. Gotta say that LWW always brings a strong pants game, too! Also I’m loving that Bolingbrook floor!
slide 4: St. Charles North
Y’all know they’re one of my faves. I’ve been so blessed to work with this program for the past 16 seasons! Here, the SCN dancers are owning the floor at the Waubonsie Valley comp on December 8th. (And yup, I’m on the wrong side of the floor)
slide 5: Elk Grove
Who doesn’t love a good leaning trick in a hip hop routine? This is from the MSL Conference comp at Wheeling back on January 9th. Back in the day, the EG poms used to host a comp every December.
slide 6: Wheaton North
Ok, so this pic isn’t of the team, but it’s one of my fave artifacts from the season. I snapped their word of the week when I visited their practice back on November 1st. They had it on a small chalkboard propped up next to their sound system for the whole team to see. I loved seeing this message because I think that it’s so important to go into your first comp with the right mindset. You’d better bring a lot of heart to early November because that first scoresheet is going to shake up your expectations!
slide 7: Neuqua Valley
Quite a few teams had new coaches this season including this powerhouse 3A program. Coach Fandrey came over from coaching Lemont, though she was pretty familiar with NV since she teaches in the building. The Neuqua dancers featured some talented seniors that led to another visit to IHSA state. This shot is from the Geneva 3A sectionals on January 19th.
slide 8: Rolling Meadows
I was honored to again be part of the RM dance team’s tryouts back on May 2nd on a stormy night. This pic shows the newly minted varsity and JV dancers after they found out they’d made the program! I’ve always been a fan of their cozy and inspirationally decorated dance room where the school’s orchesis program also makes its home.
slide 9: Grant
There’s a zillion shades of yellow, and I’m so glad Grant picked this one! Bananas? Minions? It just looked great on the floor and even better at state. These ladies were just .23 away from 12th place on Day 1. This shot is from December 16th at the Warren comp. I didn’t work with them this year, but I appreciated how nice these athletes were to me whenever we crossed paths at comps!
slide 10: Kennedy (Cedar Rapids, IA)
This is from home routine night at NIU’s UDA camp back on July 26th. The one non-Illinois team was Kennedy and they brought a sharp pom routine! This was one of my favorite mixes of teams at a camp last summer: Evanston, Maine East, Warren, Oak Forest, Naperville Central, Maine South, Hinsdale South, and Lyons Township. Six months later a lot of these dancers would get to hoist state trophies!
slide 11: Joliet Catholic
It was pretty unique to see this artistic, sophisticated dance on their home court at halftime back on February 1st. The JCA dancers were just a week removed from having won the 1A IHSA title in just their 2nd season of competing on that circuit. Side note: the school is nicely updated inside, with a sweet gym floor. I loved browsing through their trophy hall with decades’ worth of state trophies in football and baseball.
slide 12: Althoff Catholic
These athletes were one of our featured teams from last summer. This pic has them hanging out with their new hardware after the Highland competition on February 2nd.
slide 13: 3A pre-awards at the Huntley Sectional
It’s crazy that “Cotton Eye Joe” can still pump up the crowd 17 years after it came out. On the right is West Chicago, and the video ends with Larkin jamming on the left.
slide 14: Eisenhower
Ike hosts a UDA camp every July that draws a lot of nearby dance teams from the south suburbs of Chicago. Here you can see the hosts slay their hip hop home routine on July 20th.
slide 15: Andrew
This team is good every season, but this year they had even more buzz around them. I always came across coaches wondering how Andrew placed at a comp (or how they might place at the next comp). When I finally got a chance to see them for myself, I understood that this elite team had danced their way to an even higher level! Here they are after awards at the Geneva sectional. It was cool to catch the team and their fans shifting focus from celebrating to their next stop…the marley in Bloomington.