By Mary O’KEEFE

The Crescenta Valley High School dance team has something to really dance about with their successful showing at the Sharp International West Coast Championship Competition held on April 11 at Six Flags Magic Mountain.

“We started [going to] competitions last year,” said Jacqueline Tsang, the assistant director with the high school’s dance program.

The team of 25 dancers competed in five dance categories: swing, coed dance, senior dance, street dance and hip hop.

“Swing was hard,” she said. “There were a lot of lifts.”

Although some teams bring in professional choreographers to help them with their routines, the CVHS team uses student choreographers.

“We want to make it a teaching experience,” Tsang said.

The dances were choreographed and rehearsed all semester. They were performed during the spring concert, and then the dancers perfected them for the competition.

“It was really exciting,” Tsang said of the competition. “We have many talented dancers … People don’t see how much we work.”

The dance team has several performances each year and they rehearse for each show throughout the semesters.

Competing is something the dancers love, is successful at and would love to continue to do. They would even like to look into other competitions.

However, the reality of competition does not just include hard work; there are also financial considerations.

“Something we had to face was the financial issue,” Tsang said.

It costs to enter the contest, then there is travel and, if the competition is out of the area, there is housing that needs to be considered.

Tsang, a senior, hopes that the dancers will continue next year and that the team is able to acquire more sponsors.

The team won first place in street, senior coed dance, senior dance and hip hop in which they won the division championship.

They also won Best Team Spirit award.

Anyone who would like to support the CVHS dance team or wants more information can contact the dance teacher and team mentor Fredda Manzo at fmanzo@gusd.net.

  Mary Okeefe