Moorhead High’s winter dance team kicks off season
November 21, 2019
Dance at Moorhead High School consists of two teams of dancers for the year — a fall performance team and the winter competitive team.
The fall performance team had 38 dancers in grades 7-12, the most since 2005. The students perform at all home football games and some soccer games, and they march in the homecoming parade. In late August, the dance team holds a Kids Dance Clinic and at the first home football game, kids from the dance clinic get their first experience dancing for the crowd.
The fall season, which runs from August through October, serves almost as a warm-up for the competitive team. Tryouts for the winter team were held last spring, and the season began Oct. 21.
Coach Denetre Stretz explained the dance teams, “The winter team (grades 9-12) competes in Jazz and High Kick routines that are choreographed by the team.”
They are 20 dancers who make up a Varsity Jazz team, and there are two JV Jazz teams, a Varsity Kick team and one JV Kick team, she said.
Moorhead High’s first competition was Nov. 16 in Brainerd. Varsity Kick took second place while Varsity Jazz placed fifth. JV Orange Jazz received second place and JV Black Jazz took fourth. The varsity dance team competes Nov. 23 in St. Cloud.
“Our Friends & Family Night concludes our season after we compete at sections,” Stretz said. “We invite other dance and cheer teams from around the FM area to perform with us. We typically have five to eight other teams and around 170-200 total dancers."
Photo: Moorhead High’s Amaya Dullea performs with the fall performance dance team during a home football game this fall. Dullea is also a member of the winter dance team that competes with jazz and kick routines. Credit: Renée Grover
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