The Issaquah High School Dance Team attended a dance competition against 20 teams at Redmond High School on Saturday, Jan. 20. With enjoyable costumes, music, performances, and people, this event was worth the time! After hours of dancing Hip Hop, Pom, Military, and more, the girls danced their way to the awards ceremony, where they were placed second in Pom.

The first phase of the competition began with alternating Hip Hop and Military dances. To start the competition, Redmond performed Hip Hop, and was followed by Lake Washington, performing the second placing Military dance, which was followed by Eastlake, presenting Hip Hop, which was continued by Liberty’s first-place Military performance. Kentlake got third place in Hip Hop. Skyline received the Hip Hop second-place award, while Roosevelt got first place in Hip Hop. Leaving with Newport JV’s Military performance, the first phase of the competition ended with a 10-minute intermission.

The second phase of the competition was a mix of Pom, Dance, and Hip Hop. The round started with Meadowdale, who performed Pom, followed by Issaquah’s Hip Hop, Eastlake’s Pom, Shorecrest’s Hip Hop, Hazen’s fourth-place Pom, Roosevelt’s Dance, Hazen JV’s Pom, Kentlake’s second-place Dance. Later, Skyline performed a first-place Dance, and was followed by Newport JV’s Military, concluding the second phase.

The third phase of the competition consisted of Pom, Dance, and Kick. It started with Lake Washington, who gave an amazing Pom performance, and was followed by Eastlake Dance, who won the third-place trophy in the dance category, and then Lake Washington JV’s Pom, which showed exceptionally good coordination. Lake Washington JV was followed by Mount Si’s Dance performance and was continued by Issaquah’s Pom performance.

The Issaquah Eagles gave a spectacular performance, filled with amazing moves and great coordination. With bright smiles and pink pom-poms, they danced their way to second place! Freshman Annelise Guerrero says, “I felt my team did a great job today, especially in Pom.” She continues, “I thought today was a great competition day and although I have done competitions before, this one felt the least stressful out of all of them!” When asked how she felt about her team’s overall performance, freshman Emily Houghton says, “You know, I’m feeling pretty good. There’s always parts where you think you could do better, but I mean, we got second place, which is really good, considering a lot of the teams were very talented.” Freshman Olivia Tomko agrees, saying, “I’m proud of us!” Houghton comments, “I think we’ve done a good job preparing over the past few weeks or months.” Tomko continues, “This is my first year but I honestly, I think I have improved even though it’s been such a short time.” Congratulations to our Eagles! The rest of the dances continued, ending with Skyline, placing first in Pom.

The applause during both the performances and awards was incredibly loud, but it was loudest for the toddler who was busting some moves on the dance floor during judging!

While the judges made their decisions, the Novice Drill Down was in session. For those who are unaware, the Novice Drill Down contains only first-year dancers, and they compete to outlast one another in a series of increasingly difficult commands. First, all the freshmen came down to the floor to practice their drills. After a minute or two of practice, the real drills began. Whenever a dancer failed to fulfill a command, they would salute their commander, and sit down. When a pause in the command sent over half the remaining dancers to the floor, the sitting students were sent to the stands. The remaining 15 or so dancers faced off, dropping one by one, until only four remained. When only one dancer remained, the last three surviving dancers were awarded first, second, and third place. In third place was Isabella from Kentlake, in second Kiara from Kentlake, and finally in first place Rachel from Lake Washington.

After the Novice Drill Down had concluded, the Advanced Drill Down began. This time, all dancers came to the gym floor. After all but 25 or so dancers remained, the floor was dismissed to the stand, leaving plenty of room for the students to continue. As the difficulty of the commands increased, the girls showed excellent discipline. The drill lasted an extraordinarily long time, thanks to the remarkably skilled dancers. Finally, three girls were awarded first, second, and third places. Third place went to Taylor, from Meadowvale, while second went to Chloe, from Meadowdale, and first went to Alyssa, from Mercer Island.

Houghton commented, “I think you meet a lot of new people, and you gain new skills, like I’ve already grown so much from the beginning of the year.” Guerrero says, “I would say the best benefits of dance are how it makes you feel like you’re in a whole other world and helps you both physically and mentally.” To inspire stuck dancers, Guerrero says, “I would tell other dancers to just practice, practice, practice! You can get anywhere with a positive and strong mindset.” She also continues to say, “Doing a school sport is definitely hard and it can be hard to manage my time wisely, but it’s usually school, dance, homework, then sleep every day during the school week for me.” Tomko, Houghton, and Guerrero all state that they practice plenty, both at school and at home. Great job to the hard-working dancers!

Issaquah’s next dance competition is on Feb. 3 at Kentlake High School. Come and show your support!