What Dance Team Is All About...

By: Chelsea Pinchera, Aniela Zawisa and Atlee Myers 

Over this weekend, Wethersfield High School’s Dance Team headed to Hamden High School to compete in the CIAC State Championship. Hamden has been a long time rival of the WHS Dance Team, having won first place most years in every category they compete in.

At recent competitions the WHS team placed first in pom and second in jazz.

This weekend they were awarded fourth place for jazz and second in pom. The jazz performance to Hold Back The River was a solid performance for the Dance team. They hit almost every turn, stayed on count, and always maintained big smiles on their faces.The pom dance was upbeat and full of enthusiasm. Which would have won them first place if it weren’t for Hamden’s dominant performance.

Senior, and Dance Team Captain, Lea Sipala says of the recent performance, “Our two performances at states in my eyes felt like the best we have ever done. After we finished our second dance we all hugged and cried which was a really powerful moment for us”.

After finding out the scores of their dances, the team was disappointed but overall proud of what they have accomplished over this past season. When asked if there was anything they thought the team could improve on, Captain Lea Sipala said, “You can always point your feet more or smile harder or show more emotion but I believe our team gave it their all and I wouldn't change it for the world”.

Knowing states was ahead the team has practiced a lot harder than they had in the past to prepare for the state competition. We asked her [Lea Sipala] if she thought their team was prepared and what the team as whole did the best at. She said, “A couple weeks before our states competition I felt nervous knowing how competitive the other teams are and how well they dance. But as we came closer competing Wethersfield showed unbelievable improvement. Usually Pom is everyone's favorite to perform but this year I felt that as we grew closer to each other our Jazz piece brought out so much emotion which made us want to do it over and over again.”

We asked what the captain’s thoughts were on the last competition and they said, “It's a weird feeling going from practicing three days a week for months on end to finally being done. I'm going to miss my team so much and I couldn't have been more proud of them”

Wethersfield Eagles are very proud of what the dance team has been able to accomplish these past couple of years and it couldn't have been said better than by our own Lea Sipala.