On Friday, February 28th, Langley’s Dance Team won Nationals in Orlando, Florida. The team came 1st in kicks and won 2nd in jazz. The dance team flew out on Thursday and spent the night with some team bonding at the Rainforest Cafe. Freshman Kendyl Florence said, “ Rainforest Cafe was a blast and we all had a lot of fun”. The next day the team had breakfast together and then spent the day tanning by the pool. Freshman Sophia Nickles said, “ The pool was a lot of fun and a great time to bond with the team. We all had a good time, especially when freshman Madison Fletcher fell asleep with her sunglasses and necklace on and got really sun-burned which was really funny.”
Pertaining to the competition itself, senior captain Roxana Jahanbani said, “I know how stressful it can be to perform for your first time and how nervous you can get, I know I was.” When asked whether or not she was nervous about being a captain, Jahanbani said, “ Well, at first Olivia and I were pretty scared because we didn’t realize how much responsibility you have as a captain and how much the other girls depend on you. In the end though Olivia and I managed to prepare the girls and calm them down for the show, it was a lot easier because we have such a great team.”
Though this competition is all very exciting for the freshman and other classes, it can be very bittersweet and nostalgic for the seniors. When asked how she felt about her final competition senior captain Olivia Abboud said, “You don’t really realize how bittersweet it really is until you’re actually finished, you start thinking about your teammates and how you’ve grown with them not only as a classmate but also a teammate. At the same time it’s nice because you can see all the potential for the team in the future and I had a great time on the team and was lucky to have a co-captain like, Roxana Jahanbani who happens to be one of my closest friends that I grew with and had a lot of good times with.” Now that the teams season is over it’s time to think about next season, and that means much more recruits for a team with limited space. Freshman Brittany Walsh said, “Well, it’s kind of hard to not be nervous because you don’t really know what kind of talent is gonna come with the new class and naturally you start to worry about your spot on the team. That being said there are a lot of great dancers on the team who have nothing to worry about.” Freshman Samantha Masino who couldn’t compete due to a hamstring injury said that, “I’m really proud of the team and it was really cool to see the team from another perspective because they looked great!”
Though dance team did the Saxons proud and won 1st place, unfortunately for them they’re flight was canceled and had to drive all the way back from Florida. Freshman Taylor Shenk said that, “The trip was not that bad and it was pretty fun because you’re with all your friends, and you’re laughing and listening to music, so all in all pretty fun.” Though not everyone had the same point of view as Shenk, freshman Sophia Nickels said that,”Well, everyone had a lot of fun and was really energetic, as for me I just wanted to sleep the whole time in total silence.” All in all it ended up being a great trip for the dance team, there was a lot of team bonding, skill development, and our Langley dance team ended up bringing home first place!