With hours of practice under their belts, the Sky Dancers and Violet Belles have worked to become a formidable dance team in the state of Texas, a feat of which they’ve accomplished by emerging victorious from their last two competitions.
“They are just amazing,” Adviser Lindsey Harris said. “They are super kind and supportive of each other and so their support and kindness is showing in their dancing.”
The first competition of the season was the MA Dance Contest at Birdville High School on Saturday, Feb. 22. For the Violet Belles, they received Super Sweepstakes, Outstanding Technique, and Choreography, First Place JV Jazz, Contemporary, and Pom, Judges Award for Pom, First place JV team, and second place out of the whole competition.
“Bringing home the second place trophy was so rewarding, and I’ve never been happier,” Violet Belle Captain Maverick Brazeal said. “We prepared for the competition by practicing a lot; running it over and over again, fixing everything we can possibly fix, and trying our hardest at all times.”
The Sky Dancers did better than they had hoped by winning the Overall First Place Team as well as Super Sweepstakes, Outstanding overall Choreography, Outstanding overall Technique, First Place Super Team, first place in Jazz, Military and Pom, and second place in Lyrical.
Individual awards were as follows:
15-16 solo fourth-place Kira Satterwhite
17-18 solo third-place Brianna Bennett
17-18 solo second-place Hannah McLendon
Junior Duet third place Jenna Bowerstock and Kylie Marti
15-16 Duet First place Brinley Geismar and McKenzie Shelton
17-18 Duet third place Brianna Bennett and Lydia Feemster
17-18 Small Ensemble Winner – Officers
Officer Emsemble received the Judges Award
“In these dances, we focus on preciseness, energy, performance, and facials,” senior Lily Huynh said. “Winner our [first competition] at MA meant a lot to us because we worked so hard for weeks to perfect dances, so seeing that it paid off was really rewarding.”
At the Crowd Pleasers Regionals competition at Royal City High School on Saturday, Feb. 29, the Violet Belles received Super Sweepstakes, Best in Class Contemporary, Best in Class Jazz, Best in Class Pom, Crowd Pleasers Award, Outstanding Award for Contemporary and Pom in choreography and performance quality, Outstanding Award for Jazz choreography and performance quality, as well as overall JV Grand Champion. At their last competition, the Violet Belles showed that they are a dance team that others should strive to be like.
“I feel like I played a big part in getting my team where they are today and I’m so proud,” Brazeal said.
The Sky Dancers, at this same competition, received, in the varsity category, Highest Scoring Lyrical and Pom routine, Third Highest Scoring Jazz routine, Super Sweepstakes, Judges Award for Jazz and Lyrical, Artistry Award for Lyrical, Best in Class for Military, Pom, Lyrical and Jazz routines as well as the Overall Grand Champion Extra Large Team.
Individual Awards were as follows:
Small Ensemble – first place by the officers
High School Duet – first place by Brianna Bennett and Lydia Feemster
Junior Solo freshman and sophomore – first place Sydney Baker
Junior Solo freshman and sophomore – eighth runner up Madison Partee
Solo eleventh grade – first runner up Kira Satterwhite
Solo eleventh grade – semi-finalist Lydia Feemster
Solo eleventh grade – semi-finalist Mia Bailey
Solo twelfth grade – second runner up Brianna Bennett
Solo twelfth grade – third runner up Hannah McLendon
“I was so surprised,” soloist Sydney Baker said. “It still hasn’t hit me, it was such a surreal feeling and experience. All the sky dancers were so incredibly supportive. I couldn’t [have] asked for a better team to be there.”
The Violet Belle competition season is over, but the Sky Dancers still have some dancing left. Despite having massive success, the varsity team still has areas where they would look to see improvement. Their dance pieces each have an appearance to the public that the girls have to work to show; the military routine has James Bond theme, the Jazz routine is girly and Vogue themed, the Pom routine is all about Britney Spears, and the Lyrical routine is about a girl in love.
“They do really well at being in the right place at the right time and having sharp formations,” Harris said. ” I would say we’re still growing on our facials, getting comfortable and out of our comfort zone.”
Heading into spring break, the Sky Dancers are bringing their award-winning routines to the national level by competing in Los Angeles, California. They are leaving Friday, March 6 at 4 p.m., competing on Monday, March 9 and will return late night Tuesday, March 10.
“Although Sky Dancers is about dance, its the people there and the experiences that make it such an amazing program to be on,” Huynh said.
