For the second consecutive year, Kaitlyn Sheffer is taking the Wetumpka dance team back to Orlando, Florida, to compete in the 42nd annual National Dance Team Competition.
The Wetumpka dance consists of 11 competitive dancers who will compete in two separate categories for routine – intermediate jazz and intermediate pom. Intermediate jazz is ultimately a routine prepared by each team with above average difficulty and intermediate pom is elevated game-like routine choreography. Both categories are evaluated by a panel of judges.
“Some of the girls that are competing this year have never competed before, so we stick to intermediate to just kind of help build their confidence,” Sheffer said. “The idea of the competition is to match teams with similar skill levels to compete, and every team is talented which is the cool part about the whole thing on top of the experience being unmatched for the girls.”
Having competed at nationals last year, Sheffer feels very optimistic about her team this year and her ability to have them prepared as a coach also.
“You look at your team as a whole, and you decide, these are pom dancers or these are hiphop dancers or jazz dancers — just just according to what your personnel executes at the highest level,” Sheffer said.
The Indians accepted the invite to this year’s national competition following their immaculate first-place finish in the Auburn UDA camp last summer.
With the Indians dance roster consisting of several younger dancers, Sheffer is eager to watch them compete on the biggest stage for the first time.
“Obviously we are less than a week out at this point from leaving, so I’m very nervous for them,” Sheffer said. “But I know that they've put in the time and the effort. With my dance experience, I've coached them to the best of their ability, and we're still fixing tiny little things, but I guess nervous and excited is kind of where we're at right now.”
Executing routines on the national stage creates an immense degree of difficulty, so Sheffer has prioritized synchronicityand togetherness just as much as performance.
“Seeing the sheer amount of teams that are there, it's insane, because it feels like a sea of dancers and jazz,” Wetumpka dancer Brook Smith said. “We've worked so hard because it's so hard to get everyone to dance the same so me and the two other returning girls have worked hard trying to get them prepared to go perform.”
Mary Ellis Baker and Carly Forbus will both be making their first appearances on the grand stage in Orlando but feel as if they are ready to capture the moment.
“We definitely put in a lot more work, I'd say more than people really think that we do, especially because we're not considered a sport,” Baker said. “But we've been here on lots of nights working, and I think people don't expect that, but I'm really excited about the team bonding. I've never been on a trip like this, so I'm really excited.”
Forbus is the lone freshman making the trip.
“I'd say it means a lot to me to have been pulled up,” Forbus said. “It kind of makes me feel like I'm proud to be a part of the group of older girls, because it kind of gives me a glimpse into what it would look like to be on varsity, but it is a lot of pressure with definitely with trying to fulfill the standard and stuff to perform at nationals for Wetumpka High School.”
Nationals begin Friday.
