Warsaw’s Emerald Stars dance team gained their first competition experience for the year and walked away with awards on Jan. 18 at Blue Springs High School.   The team took second in their hip hop division and fourth in the pom division. 

   Coach Sarah Wright has enjoyed seeing her team grow over the years. 

   “The competition team keeps getting stronger and stronger over the years. They continue to work hard to improve their skill. They also work hard to foster a great team culture of friendship and kindness,” she said. 

   Wright spends lots of time preparing everything for the girls. 

   “At the beginning of the season I pick songs that I think the dancers, crowd, and judges will enjoy. After that I start the process of choreography, then teaching the routines. Dancer input is always accepted and appreciated as well,” she said.

   Freshman Amelia Roberts also took a solo to the competition and took second place.  Roberts spent lots of time preparing for her solo. 

   “I took it to a competition last year with my dance studio so I had a long time to work on it and I was super excited when I got second because it was a really big competition,” Roberts said. 

   Many dancers agreed that their favorite part about the competition was team bonding with her teammates after the performance. 

   “My favorite part was performing and then we left to get food. We all ate Chick-Fil-A together and that was a really good team bonding moment,” she said. 

   Captain Senior Tatum Bohl’s favorite part about going to the competition was Amelia’s mom getting them Chick-fil-A. Her favorite dance that the team performed was the pom dance because she likes how the pom poms are sparkly. As a senior, she is excited for the opportunities that are to come after the season is done. 

   “It’s really sad as I’ve been doing it the past four years but new opportunities are ahead and I’m excited for the future,” she said.

   Senior Maddison Lawrence’s favorite part about going to the dance competition was the wait before the awards start. 

   “My favorite part is kinda just while we’re waiting for awards everyone is jumping around and dancing and just like the energy in the air is all energetic,” she expressed. 

   Lawrence’s favorite dance that they performed was the pom dance because she believed that it looked the best. She has many emotions about this being one of her last competitions.

    “It hasn’t really hit me yet but once we’re at the competition it will be really sad,” she expressed. 

   Freshman Macey Heimsoth favorite part of the competition was spending time with the other girls. 

   “My favorite part was spending time with the girls and we had so much fun which was great,” Heimsoth expressed. 

  Freshman Addison Hill’s favorite part about  going to the competition was watching others perform with her teammates. 

   “My favorite part of the competition was getting flowers from Macey’s mom before our performance, or watching the other teams perform,” Hill said. 

   The dancers learned a lot from their first competition and have ideas to improve their performance.

   Roberts would like to improve with sharper movement. 

   “I think we could definitely be more sharp with our movement and perform more. I think that we were very nervous this first time and I think next time we will have most of the nerves out and we will just have fun,” Roberts said. 

    Some things that Hill wants to improve before the next competition are her motions and facial expressions. Hill had lots of fun competing in the competition. 

   “It was kind of nerve racking but it was also fun. It kind of reminded me of cheer,” Hill added. 

   Heimsoth added that she thinks that the team can improve is to practice more and have more detail in the dances. As a freshman, Heimsoth is enjoying her first season on the team and would like to continue. 

  Sophomore Isabella Schwartz’s favorite part about the competition was seeing all of the other teams dance. Her favorite dance that they performed was the hip hop dance. One way that she believes that they could get better before the next competition is to practice more. 

   Sophomore Lilyan Frye’s favorite dance that the team performed was the hip hop dance because she found it fun. A way that she thinks that they can improve before the next competition is sharper movement. 

   “Sharper movements and, honestly, I think some of our dances need to just be improved in general,” Frye said.