The Spartan Dance Team, consisting of five members, has stepped up their game considerably and has improved tremendously since last year.

Senior Claire Samuelson attributes most of the improvement to the team’s new coach, Jamie Woods. “We had trouble with our old coach; the team never really worked well with her,” Samuelson said.

Samuelson added: “Our new coach is a lot more easy-going and excited to help us; she welcomes feedback from us and incorporates all of our ideas into the routines. The connection between us and her has been working really well this year.”

The team this year consists of senior Claire Samuelson, juniors Cynthia Zheng and Jessica Wen, and freshmen Laura Slade and Calla Saunders. “Everyone on the team this year is truly committed and wants to do well; that’s one of the other reasons we are doing so well this year,” Samuelson said.

The setup of dance competitions is unique and different than most sports. Before the actual performance, the dancers have time to run through their gig and fix any last minute mistakes. Afterwards is the prep time which includes putting on costumes and makeup, and finally comes the performance. While the dancers are out there performing, a panel of judges (ranging from three to five) judge the dancers out of ten points, taking note of fluidity, difficulty, and synchronization.

“We are given a score out of ten; last year we got mainly more twos and threes,” Samuelson said. “This year we’ve been getting an average of sixes and sevens.” The team completed their competition season with a second place finish at the Mounds View competition and third place at Brooklyn Center, making them third in the Tri-Metro conference.