The PHS competitive dance team finished its season in early February. Starting in late October, it was a busy and exciting season for the dancers.

Being a part of the competitive dance team comes with multiple responsibilities, including competing against other high schools at dance competitions and performing sideline dances and halftime routines at PHS basketball games.

The main focus of the season is practicing and perfecting one dance that the team performs at competitions on winter weekends.

The dancers learned the routine during the summer so they would be familiar with it. Once the season started, practices focused on rehearsing each section of the dance repeatedly and making changes based on judges’ feedback.

The dance the PHS team performed at competitions this year was a pom routine, meaning dancers used pom-poms throughout the performance. Pom dances are fast-paced, energetic and entertaining. The goal is to be as sharp as possible while engaging the crowd.

Each time the team performed the routine at a competition, it improved its score and made the dance cleaner.

“From the beginning of the season to the end, our score improved by 12 points,” varsity competitive dance coach Kara Tyner said. “This is the result of perseverance and hard work.”

Another focus of the competitive season is performing at PHS basketball games during halftime. The team performs a different dance at each game and also does sideline dances while players warm up.

“I’ve always loved the competitiveness season because we get to focus more exclusively on dance and technique,” senior Kyra Hayes said. “The thing I’ll miss most next year is performing with my team.”

The competitive dancers worked through early morning practices, after-school rehearsals and cold competition mornings throughout the winter season. Anyone interested in joining the team can attend the clinics and tryouts on April 28.