Dancing is perhaps one of the purest and most demanding forms of artistic expression. No one knows this better than  senior co-captain, Taela Blandof the CCCHS dance team. “I dance because my father was diagnosed with Type One diabetes and I’ve been diagnosed with fibromyalgia; dance became my outlet and those girls became my family.” Fibromyalgia, for those of you who don’t know, is widespread pain of the muscles which obviously makes it difficult and painful to move for some.

        The dance team undergoes tough three-hour practices weekly to memorize the choreography for their performances. They perform at almost every sports event and take part in competitions. According to Bland, the only competition they are taking part in this year is the hip hop division because of a complaint made by a previous coach. Despite this, the team has a history of success; for example, they got first place overall at Mardi Gras competition in 2015 and first in their division in 2016.

       The team is multifaceted, meaning there is something for everybody from expressing yourself through movement to choreographing lyrical routines. “My goal is to see my family expand,” Bland says. “We have a stigma, and for some reason we can’t get males to audition. We haven’t had a guy since 2006 I believe.” Students thinking about joining the dance team next year can audition in April. “We only turn someone down if they’re unable to learn, or they’re disrespectful, and I can’t recall a time when we had to turn someone down for the former.”

Anyone interested in joining the dance team, should speak with current members or contact Coach Samantha Clark at [email protected]