Dance team goes undefeated three weeks in a row

Claire Van Aken, staff writer

Every spring, the dancers at Sara’s Studio of Dance prepare for competitions around the country every weekend. Sara Roegge, owner and director of Sara’s Studio of Dance, trains her elite and intermediate dance competition teams for regional and national competitions every year. This year, Sara’s team consists of around 50 young ladies, ages varying from 5 to 18. About half of them make up of the elite team, who are girls who compete with multiple dances and styles.

The team as a whole has traveled to St. Louis, Missouri and Springfield, Illinois to compete at Revolution Talent Competition, Beyond the Stars Talent Competition, and BravO! Talent where the team competed this season’s routines. The team earned numerous awards together like the Sportsmanship award at BravO!, high point award, choreography awards, and more.

The elite team competes a dance called “Next to You,” choreographed by Skylee Trimble, and danced by Sarah May, Ava Lahey, Olivia Pine, Chloe Burrus, Amelia Pine, Madelynn Ganz, Cesciley Hall, Jillian Claussen, Paiten Wilson, Dani Dillard, and Claire Van Aken. This piece means something a little bit different to each girl, but together they tell a story that they make the audience to pay close attention. The routine has scored exceptionally well so far this season. So well that they have received top adjudications, first place scores, and top overall scores for entire competitions not once, but three weekends in a row. At the first competition of the season, the dance received a Revolutionary adjudication and 1st Place in the Advanced Senior Large Group category. This was a major accomplishment considering it was their very first time in front of judges on the competition stage!

The next busy competition for the team was held in Springfield, IL at UIS Sangamon Auditorium. The competition, BravO! Talent, scored the girls with the highest adjudication, Platinum, a first place in the Advanced Senior Large Group category, and the highest scoring dance of all age 12 years and over entries. Sara’s also took home the highest scoring dance of all the age 11 years and under entries with a routine named “State of Shock.”

The most recent competition was held across the Mississippi in downtown St. Louis at Beyond the Stars National Competition. Here the girls brought the same energy to their performance yet again and ended up on top with the highest adjudication of Diamond, 1st Place in their Advanced Senior Large Group category, a Choreography award, and another highest scoring dance of the entire competition which was a 297.7 out of 300 total points.

These hardworking and talented girls are not done with their regional season quite yet, but they are certainly eager to keep their astonishing winning streak going until they hit their final destination at Revolution Talent Competition Nationals in Pensacola, Florida in June.