By Rebecca Do
The FVHS dance team’s most recent, post-nationals competition garnered them two first-place awards, two second-place awards and one fourth-place award.
The team is split into hip hop and jazz/lyrical with subgroups within them. In hip hop, there are three groups including “Small Hip Hop,” “Hip Hop Medium A and B” and “Large Hip Hop.” Jazz and lyrical are divided into “Small Jazz,” “Contemporary” and “JV Jazz.” Despite separate groups, a dancer can be in multiple ones at once.
At the Sonora Cal Pac Championships, Large Hip Hop and Medium Hip Hop A placed first. Small Hip Hop and Medium Contemporary placed second and Small Jazz placed fourth.
Dance is art; it helps people convey music and stories through their bodies. Beside being pretty, it is also a sport.
It too requires hard work and dedication as any other ball sport. To hone a craft like dancing takes patience and they are no stranger to rigorous practices and training. Training does yield results, however, because the team has consistently earned first, second and third place awards throughout the season.
“Winning, personally, isn’t just about the pretty plaques or trophies. I believe it’s the constant improvement I see throughout every single person on the dance team,” sophomore and varsity dancer Samantha Rivera said. “The joy everyone has hearing our team win first in multiple categories isn’t something I would trade for anything else in the world.”
The synchronization is the glue that holds the team together. Being not a step out of place requires immense trust and skill as a unit. The chemistry between the members of the team can be seen through their impeccable choreography in their routines.
“People don’t realize that a lot goes behind the scenes like we aren’t only just dancing, we are working on every little detail that goes on in one routine…At the end of the day, being on the dance team is such an amazing experience as you build a bond with people that will last for years!” junior and varsity dancer Tony Nguyen said.
Senior and varsity dancers Cat Tyler and Vincent Do have expressed their excitement for nationals, as their 2020 nationals were canceled their sophomore year due to the pandemic.
“Even though I have been on the team for four years, I have only been to one in-person nationals because of COVID,” Tyler said. “It’s such an amazing experience and I can’t wait for those who haven’t been to see what it’s like on the big stage.”
Nationals took place the March 25 and 26 at the Anaheim Convention Center on March 25 and 26, with all six sub-teams qualifying.
After two years of online practice and competition, we were excited to see them thrive in non-virtual space.
At USA Nationals, they placed fifth overall.
