Delayed dance season kicks off the summer

The Fossil Ridge High School Dance Team was lucky enough to travel to Orlando, Florida and have the opportunity to compete at the national level one week before the country was shut down, due to COVID-19.

We are so grateful that we were able to attend the National Dance Association’s national competition at Disney World to cap off our wonderful season. We were unaware, much like the rest of the world, of what was going to occur in our country over the next several months.

Tryouts for the next season were originally scheduled for the end of April, but because of the pandemic, everything that was planned to be in person was canceled to avoid contact. To keep in shape, our newest assistant coach, Sidney Harvey, led a weekly Zoom class to work on technique and keep our bodies moving.

Harvey is a member of the University of Colorado Boulder Dance Team and she has been competitively dancing as well as being on the sidelines for years. The 2020-2021 season is her first year as a member of a coaching staff.

Harvey admits that, as a first time coach, this season has been challenging to, “[keep] athletes connected, in shape, and motivated with always changing plans.”

Although this has not been the most ideal season for a competition inclined sport, Harvey has learned that the dancers are “resilient and can overcome any challenge that is put in front of them.” The importance of valuing practice time in person and performances has become more apparent while we are apart from one another.

As the newest member of the Fossil Dance Team, over the summer, Harvey would prepare choreography for the current team to learn, as well as incoming freshmen who were interested in joining the sport. These clinics helped the aspiring teammates to train before the tryout that was scheduled for early June.

Mackenzie Lorenzen, a former member of the Fossil Dance Team and a current dancer on the Colorado State University Golden Poms, choreographed both a Pom and Hip-hop routine for the team to audition with. Each dance had specific skills and tricks that our couches wanted throughout the season, so we all fought for these to stay consistent.

Our coaches were able to get a studio space for us to audition in, since the type of flooring that works best for dancing is very specific. We were all randomly split into groups of three in order to keep our six feet from one another. There was a panel of three judges: Harvey, Lorenzen and Dawson Woods, who is also a member of the CU Boulder Dance Team.

Fossil’s Dance Team is split up into two main categories: game-day and competition dancing. As the dance team is a part of the spirit leaders at Fossil, we perform for our peers on the sidelines and during halftime at football and basketball games. Aside from that, we typically compete at regional, state, and national competitions.

Once both the competition and game-day teams were decided, we began practicing at Twin Silos Park while practicing social distancing, since we were no longer allowed to be on the Poudre School District property. We did training and conditioning at the park a couple mornings out of the week, while getting studio space each Wednesday at Just for Kix.

Harvey and our other assistant coach, Tessa Lovell, created dances and sideline cheers for us to learn and perfect to prepare for the possibility of football games in the upcoming fall. We worked on drilling arm placement in Pom motions so all of our dances were strong and sharp, while on the other hand, focusing on groovy elements for Hip-hop.

The beginning of our season was chaotic and unpredictable, yet we did not take one practice for granted since we knew it could be over at any time. For now, we just enjoy any time we can grasp with our teammates.