On Saturday, January 28, the FHC varsity dance team will compete at the 32nd Piston’s Classic Dance Championships at Little Caesar’s Arena. Doors open at 8:30 a.m. This particular group of Rangers is on its way to doing big things as the team will compete against many different schools for the shot at dancing during halftime of the Pistons basketball game Saturday night.

One member of the team, Kaylin Sheuneman, talks about the amount of work and time that has been put in to prepare for the big event this weekend 

“We have practiced after school and before school, and have also sat down as a team to listen to our corrections from judges at past competitions to see where we can improve, including giving feedback on things we noticed or just feedback overall,” Kaylin said. “We have also individually been putting in the time to better ourselves, making our team stronger overall. FHC basketball games have also helped a lot because they help us notice things that happen during performances that we may have missed before.”

If you think the dancers will have an easy, fun-filled day, you may be wrong, for the pressure will be intense. The rules are far more complicated than you might think. Each team will have a time limit, no props are allowed other than poms and gloves, tumbling is allowed but only if one hand or foot remains in constant contact with the performance surface, mounts are not allowed unless there is skin-to-skin contact, and kicklines are allowed and encouraged but not required. To figure out which is the best team overall, there is a skilled panel of professional judges that are provided by the Pistons Competition Directors; the panel will judge the teams in the following areas: projection, choreography, technique, execution, synchronization, spacing/formations, and overall performance.

Myla Morey is a sophomore on the team and is so proud of all of the girls on the team as well as herself. A couple of long months of planning leads to their nerve-wracking experience. 

“I’m most nervous about hitting the turn sections and doing all the changes to the dances we’ve made over the last couple of weeks because that can make or break a dance,” Myla said. “A win this weekend would mean that everyone put in their full effort and commitment into the performance and to the team.”

The team members are not the only ones that are proud of what has been happening this season. Senior Bernice Sam sees how much work the girls have put in and the growth from past seasons.

“The dance team has improved a lot. They were good before, but this year, they are amazing. I can see that they put in a lot of time and effort. It shows how well they’ve grown as a team by their coordination,” Bernice said. 

We wish the girls varsity dance team the best of luck on Saturday as they compete in this very exciting competition.