By: Allie Goodall
The Dickinson Dance Team is working its way back into the game after taking home 2nd place in small varsity Jazz at state on January 27th, 2024. It is not often that the dance team gets a piece of metal to bring home for the trophy case. This team has worked hard with over 350 hours of practice time racked up throughout each year. Coming from my own experience, there is nothing you can compare to a season on this team.
This team has a history of ranking on the lower end of the scale, but the past 3 years, they have been on an upswing. In 2022, the team took home a first-place trophy for the special Novelty category and had the opportunity to do a banner-raising ceremony. Last year, the team was starting to rank higher than ever before but still was not able to bring home a finalist title in any of their three categories- Jazz, Hip Hop, and Kick. This year, the team worked harder than ever before and made it to the top. They not only brought home a second-place trophy in Jazz, but also a first-place trophy at the DX Americup in Minneapolis the following weekend in the same category.
Members of this team are entering their fifth and sixth years, while the other half have just completed their first! This team comes from a variety of backgrounds, including studio dance, gymnastics, and no dance experience at all. They have done many fun team bonding activities, spent time outside of practice together, and have truly demonstrated what it means to be a team, regardless of their differences.
Being on this team not only teaches skill, technique, and teamwork but also resilience when things do not go as planned, empathy when you see another dancer struggling with the same things you did, trust when you have to try something new, selflessness on your worst days when your teammates are struggling too, and maturity when you say something that makes the older teammates cringe. It requires strength, for all of the days we thought we could not do it anymore, when our bodies were exhausted, and people were getting injured left and right. And patience when feeling like competition season would never show up and that nothing paid off, when it did in ways we didn’t realize until it was over.
Dance may not be anyone’s first choice of sports entertainment, however, dance creates so many memories, emotions, goals, and escapes for every single individual practicing the art. If you look a little bit closer (even by just focusing on one person) you can begin to read the story that each dance is trying to tell and choose as a viewer how to be impacted by it. The jazz category captured my emotions more than any other in the 5 years I was on the team, and I’m so proud of the Dickinson Dance Team for bringing home a finalist title at state and a first-place title at regionals in that category. Nothing compares to seeing the people you love win. I encourage you all to take a chance, expand your horizons, and go watch these dancers! (You can watch this season’s performances on Instagram (@dickinsondanceteam.)) I guarantee you that you will feel even more proud to be a Mighty Midget once you see what this team has got.
