|
|
|
The Yellow Medicine East Silhouettes have been an unstoppable force this season and it continued Saturday at the Section 3A Dance Team Tournament, with the team capturing first place finishes in both Jazz and High Kick while punching their sixteenth consecutive trip to the Minnesota State High School League’s State Girls Dance Team Tournament.
“It was a lot of fun,” said YME co-head danceline coach Chris Nerdahl. “The girls did a great job. They danced well—again. I think their Jazz dance was better than it was at conferences. And their kick dance was compareable (to conferences [where YME also captured dual championships]). Now we just have to do even better.”
The last time YME earned dual section championships was 2008.
Co-head coach Dee Dee Dreier commented saying, “It’s just such a neat group of girls, they’ve had such a positive attitude this year and their dedication and work ethic has just been so strong, probably as good as any other year we’ve had.”
The Silhouette’s Jazz routine, which has been identified as “something special” by danceline fans, beat second place Lac qui Parle Valley by a 23 point spread. Something both coaches said was significant, especially this late in the season.
Even people not associated with the Silhouettes have taken notice—especially of the team’s Jazz routine. The outside consensus is that the Silhouettes are bona-fide contenders in both disciplines. But it’s their lyrical, emotional and stylish Jazz routine that’s the one they call “something special”.
“That people who have no connection to our team are seeing that these girls have the potential to (win State) is something special,” said Dreier. “It’s not just mom and dad saying, “Oh, you did such a wonderful job”. It’s complete strangers who know what dance is—that are saying these things. So that’s kinda cool.”
Only one judge failed to rank YME’s Jazz routine in first place.
Also elevating YME’s hopes for State in the Jazz division, was the surprise defeat of five-time State champion Duluth Marshall who finished second behind Aitkin at their sectional meeting.
“That’s kind of opened up the door for other people to say, ‘Hey, maybe this is possible’. When they have five (championships) in a row you’re thinking, ‘Hmm, are we going to be able to get past them?’ But when Aiken beat them on Saturday, I think it kind of opened everybody’s mind to say that it’s possible,” said Nerdahl.
The Yellow Medicine East Silhouettes have been an unstoppable force this season and it continued Saturday at the Section 3A Dance Team Tournament, with the team capturing first place finishes in both Jazz and High Kick while punching their sixteenth consecutive trip to the Minnesota State High School League’s State Girls Dance Team Tournament.
“It was a lot of fun,” said YME co-head danceline coach Chris Nerdahl. “The girls did a great job. They danced well—again. I think their Jazz dance was better than it was at conferences. And their kick dance was compareable (to conferences [where YME also captured dual championships]). Now we just have to do even better.”
The last time YME earned dual section championships was 2008.
Co-head coach Dee Dee Dreier commented saying, “It’s just such a neat group of girls, they’ve had such a positive attitude this year and their dedication and work ethic has just been so strong, probably as good as any other year we’ve had.”
The Silhouette’s Jazz routine, which has been identified as “something special” by danceline fans, beat second place Lac qui Parle Valley by a 23 point spread. Something both coaches said was significant, especially this late in the season.
Even people not associated with the Silhouettes have taken notice—especially of the team’s Jazz routine. The outside consensus is that the Silhouettes are bona-fide contenders in both disciplines. But it’s their lyrical, emotional and stylish Jazz routine that’s the one they call “something special”.
“That people who have no connection to our team are seeing that these girls have the potential to (win State) is something special,” said Dreier. “It’s not just mom and dad saying, “Oh, you did such a wonderful job”. It’s complete strangers who know what dance is—that are saying these things. So that’s kinda cool.”
Only one judge failed to rank YME’s Jazz routine in first place.
Also elevating YME’s hopes for State in the Jazz division, was the surprise defeat of five-time State champion Duluth Marshall who finished second behind Aitkin at their sectional meeting.
“That’s kind of opened up the door for other people to say, ‘Hey, maybe this is possible’. When they have five (championships) in a row you’re thinking, ‘Hmm, are we going to be able to get past them?’ But when Aiken beat them on Saturday, I think it kind of opened everybody’s mind to say that it’s possible,” said Nerdahl.
Both coaches commented on how easy this year’s team has been to coach.
“At this point we just have so much experience on this team,” said Dreier. “It’s still a young team, but a lot of these girls have been out on that State floor three or four times. So they know what’s expected of them by the time they get to this point in the season. And their just so much stronger all around...”
Nerdahl concurred: “Yesterday we had this list of very specific things. Like, ‘So-and-so needs to do better at this on this beat’. It’s been so long since we’ve been able to get to that point in during a season. Usually, we’re just trying to drill, drill, drill—as a whole group. Now, for the first time in several years, we’re able to say, ‘You need to do this, this way’ and give them specific people and what they need to work on. That just says that, as a team, they’ve progressed farther this year than they have over the last couple of years.”
That thought made Nerdahl reminisce: “I just think back to when these freshman were seventh graders and the year we had that year. We ended up fourth at state that year, but it was an up-hill climb. We were pushing that cart up-hill every day that year. It’s just really cool to see how they’ve progressed. The other day, I watched ‘youtube’ and our performance at State from a couple of years ago. There’s a lot of the same kids that are on this team right now. You look at our dance now and our dance then and it’s mind boggling that it’s the same group of kids.”
The two coaches see traditional powers like LqPV, Aiken and Canon Falls as the team’s to beat if YME wants to bring back another trophy for their trophy case.
“We’re definitely in medal contention, at least in everybody else’s opinion, so that of course gives the girls a little boost of confidence,” said Dreier. “Anything can happen on the day, but they’ve proven themselves throughout this year and have gotten themselves in the running... The biggest thing now is that they all have to have the same goal in mind and be willing to do whatever it takes to get them as far as they can.”
