As a member of the Padua Academy Dance Team, I have experienced the different types of rehearsals that have been held since the season started. Summer boot camps gave new members a feel for the practices to come and the choreography that they would soon experience, and practices continued through the volleyball and basketball season. Now that both seasons are over, a new kind of practice is taking shape. The dance team will be going to competition on March 14th, and with the new more rigorous practices, we will be ready.

One main reason that makes competition practices differ from a practice for a game is the amount of cleaning, or refining a section of a dance, that is done. Ava Stratton, a freshman who made the team this year, said, “They’re definitely harder, but I like them more than regular practice because of the cleaning we do.” We were able to fine tune one of the sections of our competition dance recently. I also love that we’re improving so quickly.

The challenge made me very excited for other upcoming practices; however, these practices can be very daunting. Going over and over the same few eight counts can be very frustrating, especially when the moves still aren’t executed correctly. When the practice is over, and a cleaned section finally looks refined and precise, the entire process is completely worth it. Though competition practices are going to be very challenging, my excitement for our upcoming competitions motivates me to undergo hours of drilling in order to be ready.