Pulling it together: Young Silverton dance team rebuilds

By Omie Drawhorn

Silverton High School junior Jordan Teeney says the best part of dancing is the first two minutes after she’s finished her routine.

“Those two minutes coming off the dance floor, that’s what it’s all for,” she said. “It’s like walking on air.”

To Teeney and the other 20 members of the Silverton High School Dance Team, dancing is much more than a sport.

“It’s a good way to release emotion to do with anything,” sophomore Renae Stratton said.

The team competes across the state, as well as performs at basketball games and occasionally at pep assemblies.

Their dances are a mixture of ballet, hip hop, lyrical, pointe and jazz.

The Silverton High School dance team invites students in kindergarten through sixth grade to attend its annual dance team camp Jan. 17-19 at Silverton High School. The young campers will perform at half-time at the Jan. 20 basketball game.

Although the team is young this year with nine freshmen, four sophomores, six juniors, and two seniors, many of the girls have grown up dancing with Paula Magee, owner of Silverton Ballet & Performing Arts.

Magee also coaches the dance team. This year the team has to rebuild.

“There is definitely a different dynamic than previous years,” team captain Dakota Druley said.

Some members are new to dance team in general, and others have gone to

different dance studios.

Mary Jones is new to Silverton High School and has found a home on the dance team.

“Coming from another dance team and being at a new school, it was super nice to be in a place where everyone is ridiculously welcoming,” Jones said.

Junior Monica Steele said the year has been about uniting everyone, since so many came from different places.

Magee said the girls continue to get closer the more they dance together. “(Before dance team) I saw (the new girls) around (and in dance classes), but we didn’t really know each other.” Stratton said.

Magee said the girls are like a family.

“They are all friends, but there are different dynamics, they don’t always hang out (outside of dance team) but they are there for each other,” she said.

“We have really grown together; no matter what, we have taken those experiences and grown,” Marla Waters said.

Most of the girls on the team have been dancing since they were three years old.

Freshman Nicole Finch said her mom is a dance teacher, so dancing is in her blood.

“My sisters quit by the time they were 10 but I kept dancing,” she said.

Celeah Norris, sophomore, said she loves different aspects of dance team and dance classes.

“Dance team is all community and in studio you get to show off your own style,” she said. “Watching dancing is way more entertaining than watching basketball.”

Waters said some people write, draw, or play music as part of their self-expression.

“I can’t play piano to save my life but dancing is how I express myself,” she said. “You get out what you put into it. Everything is out there on the dance floor.”

Druley said she loves “the mechanics behind it.

“There are so many aspects to what you can do (with dancing) and you are able to collaborate and produce an interesting perspective,” she said.

Although the dance team experienced a few growing pains at the beginning, Magee said the season has been surprisingly successful.

The team placed third in the lyrical dance portion of the Category Championships on Dec. 10 at Reynolds High School in Troutdale. It also performed a hip-hop routine but didn’t place.

“The season has been going pretty well; we had a rocky start with all the new members and it was difficult for everyone to adjust,” member Jordan Teeney said.

Magee said the girls have worked hard to overcome that, and it showed at the championships.

“It’s interesting to see all the girls come back from this challenge and work as a team,” Magee said.

She said the team went in hoping to place. Although the team didn’t place in hip hop, Magee said she was very satisfied with the performance.

“I thought it was our best performance; every competition continues to get better and better,” she said.

Hip hop was a larger category at the competition. The team was competing against 6A schools.

Currently the dancers are working on a lyrical dance to perform at state championships which is in mid-March. Last year, the team took second at state.

They are upping their practice schedule and practice four times a week together as a team. In addition, many take dance classes and practice on their own.