MONROE - Monroe High School Dance Team is primed for the Southern Regional Dance Competition in Watertown, Jan. 30.
This will be their first competition of the season.
Last year, the newly formed team placed seventh at a regional competition.
Team captains, Miranda Cates and Jolene DeNure, believe they have a better shot at state this time around, primarily because they have been working all summer long.
"We're a lot better this year," Cates said. "These are some hard working girls."
The team got a late start last year, not coming together until October.
This year, the 14-member team was put together in June, and has been performing at football and basketball games, as well as practicing two to three times a week.
Also, most of the members were able to attend a four-day dance camp at Clark College in Dubuque, Iowa, this summer.
"Camp helped a lot," DeNure said. "It gave us more of a comfortable, family feeling."
The team will be performing two routines, a hip-hop and a jazz presentation, which are choreographed by some of the members and team advisors Briana Cleary and Andrea Balsiger.
Competition is judged on technical ability, choreography, showmanship, timing and precision, formation difficulty, turns, jumps, control, and a host of other aspects.
Most of the girls have outside dance and gymnastic experience. Everyone, team members as well as the advisors, learned a great deal from last year's attendance at the regional, Cleary said.
"There is a huge competitor list at the regional," Cleary said.
The team will meet Edgewood, Farland and Stoughton Martin Luther in the Division 2 Jazz competition. For their hip-hop routine, they go up against Wauwatosa, New Berlin Eisenhower, Pewaukee and Milwaukee Lutheran in Division 2.
The top three at regional will go to state competition in LaCrosse.
The team is supported by fundraising and donations. The team works on a minimal budget of about $4,500, which covers competition fees, transportation, uniforms and coaches' salaries.
This will be their first competition of the season.
Last year, the newly formed team placed seventh at a regional competition.
Team captains, Miranda Cates and Jolene DeNure, believe they have a better shot at state this time around, primarily because they have been working all summer long.
"We're a lot better this year," Cates said. "These are some hard working girls."
The team got a late start last year, not coming together until October.
This year, the 14-member team was put together in June, and has been performing at football and basketball games, as well as practicing two to three times a week.
Also, most of the members were able to attend a four-day dance camp at Clark College in Dubuque, Iowa, this summer.
"Camp helped a lot," DeNure said. "It gave us more of a comfortable, family feeling."
The team will be performing two routines, a hip-hop and a jazz presentation, which are choreographed by some of the members and team advisors Briana Cleary and Andrea Balsiger.
Competition is judged on technical ability, choreography, showmanship, timing and precision, formation difficulty, turns, jumps, control, and a host of other aspects.
Most of the girls have outside dance and gymnastic experience. Everyone, team members as well as the advisors, learned a great deal from last year's attendance at the regional, Cleary said.
"There is a huge competitor list at the regional," Cleary said.
The team will meet Edgewood, Farland and Stoughton Martin Luther in the Division 2 Jazz competition. For their hip-hop routine, they go up against Wauwatosa, New Berlin Eisenhower, Pewaukee and Milwaukee Lutheran in Division 2.
The top three at regional will go to state competition in LaCrosse.
The team is supported by fundraising and donations. The team works on a minimal budget of about $4,500, which covers competition fees, transportation, uniforms and coaches' salaries.