The High School Dance Team Experience

Brailey's first fall season of dance is almost over, and I have barely managed to get a single decent picture of the experience! I am always filming her dance performances, so I don't get to take as many pictures like I would like to - the perils of only being one person, right? Last Saturday was her last competition for the fall, and so I made sure to get a few shots here and there. Above, as I was dropping off some goodies for the team food table, I ran into her out in the hallway.
Below, after their amazing Hip Hop performance, which you can see on our Facebook page or YouTube Channel, they waited in the stands and watched the rest of the dances.
Apparently, they only do this at the West Albany competition, which is where we were. It is called the "Grand March." They introduce every school and line them up along the floor. It was pretty cool and I would love to see them do this at every competition. Unfortunately, it is hard to get good pictures when they are on the fly and I am so far away without a tripod to keep my camera and humongous lens steady. But I did my best!  
Her bun was so amazing! Truly epic! That sweet face of hers melts my heart in so many ways.
All of the schools and dancers. And countless hours of dedication and hard work and practice. Impressive!
The Drill Down. She came very close to making the Top Ten again, but doubted herself at the last second and had to drop out. I couldn't manage to do even one of these commands, so I am impressed that she does it at all!And here they all are together, JV and Varsity. Varsity, as usual, cleaned house! They took home two Firsts and three Seconds. They are all amazing! Like I said, countless hours of hard work. And frankly, coaches who are extremely talented. I can't even imagine trying to come up with new dances for every season. The choreography of the Sheldon Colleens is always impressive, that is for sure! Varsity is headed to State, and JV is preparing for the Winter Showcase and tryouts for Winter season. It takes a huge amount of dedication and time to be successful in dance, and Brailey is still working hard to improve her technique and skill set, which she is behind in. But considering this is only her second year of dancing, she is catching up quickly and will be able to do all the moves she needs in due time. As her mother, I am incredibly proud of her and understand the struggle to maintain proper dedication. Her first love is her horse, so it is hard, sometimes, to put this love aside for something she can only do in high school. We try to balance things out, but you can only do so much in one day, and that is what we do - we take it one day at a time. Dance - it's not for sissies!