Igniting Excitement in the Stands: North Stafford’s Dance Team

Hard work is paying off this year for North Stafford High School’s dance team. These dedicated performers have earned accolades throughout the season, placing in various categories for their own competitions and getting the crowd excited with their personalities shining through each halftime performance during Wolverine games. 

Camille Villalobos, a senior on the team, explained the growth the team has had. 

“I have been on the dance team for three years now, and we have grown so much. Not just in our dancing ability but in our dynamic as well,” she said. 

“In the past, we were mainly a half-time team, meaning we focused more on our halftime routine during football and basketball rather than our competitive dances simply because most of us were new to competitive dance,” Camille continued. Part of their growth has been the shift from focusing on entertaining the crowds to honing in on their routines during competitions. 

“We have focused a lot more on our competition dances,” Camille said. “We learned them back in August and have been cleaning them up ever since.”

Because of that, they’ve been cleaning up the competition. At Brooke Point High School, they placed 1st in Team Routine, 3rd in Pom, and 3rd in Hip-Hop Routine. They just got better, coming in 1st once again in Team Routine, 2nd in Pom, and 3rd in Hip-Hop at Colgan High School’s competition. The team practices three to four times a week and their dedication to continual improvement has been admirable. 

Even when they aren’t competing, they’re showing up with the “most entertaining performances” at football and basketball games. During pep rallies spectators can see the support between all of the athletes and it shows in the way they uplift each other every time they perform and their growth as a team has been inspiring to see. 

Each competition they go to their scores keep improving, and Camille credits this to the team bond that they share. 

“We all WANT it,” she said. “We WANT to win. We WANT to know that all our hard work, long days, and tiring practices are worth it. At the end of the day, we love to dance but, most importantly, we love to do it together.”

At North Stafford, students value being a part of a team and the dance team truly exemplifies that. 

“[The] competition is so hard, but it is so, so fun and rewarding,” Camille said. “It’s difficult because countless schools from all over the state are insanely talented as well. Just like us, everyone is putting in the work. We just go out there and perform everything we’ve practiced and leave it all on the dance floor. Before we go on at any performance or competition, we always say, ‘Don’t leave that dance floor feeling like you didn’t give it your all.’”

Here at North Stafford High School, we all aspire to be just as hard working, just as passionate, and just as dedicated as the amazing dance team.