By Naomi Tsuang
Staff Writer
The Mira Costa Dance Team became national champions on Saturday in the Sharp International Las Vegas Nationals after scoring the highest number of total points in the competition.
The team placed first in all three of their large group dances in jazz, hip hop and lyrical. The team performed their jazz routine to the song, “Too Original” by Major Lazer and the hip hop routine to a mashup of songs. Dancers performed their lyrical routine to the song “Compass” by Zella Day. Sophomore Cami Benson and senior Ami Okamoto placed first in best leaps, freshman Morgan Rysso placed third in best turns and junior dance team captain Emily Duong got fourth in best kicks.
“The girls have worked so hard this year,” Dance Team Coach Victoria Brown said. “We [performed] to our best ability and [felt] like we left it all out on the floor.”
Duong placed second in her jazz solo and senior dance team captain Caprina Benson placed first in her jazz solo. According to senior dance team captain Sam Lonergan, the dance team coach offered the captains solos and the captains decided if they wanted to perform a solo or not. Judges scored routines based on choreography, showmanship, technique, costumes, precision, execution and overall appeal.
“Having a solo puts a lot of responsibility and pressure on yourself because you don’t have your teammates by your side on stage,” Duong said. “However, in my solo I had the chance to display my tricks and strengths that I may not [have] been able to showcase in a group dance.”
In March and April, the dance team competed at two Sharp International regional competitions and one Golden State Spirit Association regional competition. The team placed at the first regional competition at Whittier High School on March 5 earning them a spot at Nationals, but according to Duong the team continued to perform in other regional competitions for practice in front of judges and crowds.
“Leading up to Nationals, we had a tremendous amount of practice,” Duong said. “Although we had to put more time into practices, the team is so close knitted that each practice doesn’t seem so tiring and difficult. Our coach told us this year that we all have to come into practice with a good attitude and focus on dancing despite anything happening outside of the dance room.”
In order to prepare for Nationals, the dance team started learning their competition dances in the beginning of their season in the summer. They also practiced at least twice a week leading up to Nationals in order to perfect each dance.
“Nationals, especially this year as a senior, [was] our final chance to give it our all and end the year feeling great about what we’ve accomplished as a team,” Lonergan said. “It was also a fun way to bond and spend extra time together before our season is over.”
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