Dance team grows with addition of Minnehaha Academy dancers

Claire Hallaway

In the first year of co-op dancing with Minnehaha Academy, 9th grader Annika Findlay (front) sees the change as a positive: “I think we’ve made a lot of really good new friends just in the first couple of weeks. There aren’t very many of us, but we’re pretty close,” Findlay said.

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The Dance Team has made big changes this winter, combining with Minnehaha Academy for the first time this season, creating a larger line than they had previously. Because of the change, they also don’t have any captains for the first time in over five years. This is Minnehaha’s first year offering dance team.

9th grader Ellie Hoppe has been on the Spartan dance team for three consecutive years and was a captain of the team last year. “Because we’re a co-op with Minnehaha and it’s their first year this year, it didn’t really seem fair that they didn’t have a chance to be a captain,” Hoppe said.

9th grader Annika Findlay, who is also returning to the team, sees the new change as a positive adjustment and a chance to make new friends. The team was also able to grow close quickly since it is so small and close-knit. They bond as a team easily and bonded by pulling pranks on each other.

“This year we’re really into pulling pranks on each other; generally I’d say that we’re pretty positive and supportive,” Hoppe said.

“We’re also a little sassy,” Findlay added.

“[One of our pranks was] in our rehearsal space there’s an equipment closet and one time a girl was running late and we all hid in there and we set up a phone on face time so that we could see what was happening and then we jumped out,” Hoppe said.

“We also told one girl that she didn’t submit the costume form in time so she wouldn’t be able to compete,” Hoppe said.

Hoppe and Findlay both agreed that their team members from Minnehaha fit right into the team’s environment. The team becomes closer by doing go-around topic sharing or just talking about their days as they stretch or warm up at the beginning of practices.

“I think we’ve made a lot of really good new friends just in the first couple of weeks. There aren’t very many of us, but we’re pretty close,” Findlay said

“With the Minnehaha girls I was personally a little bit nervous because we didn’t really know them [yet] and we didn’t really know how they’d act and stuff, but they’re all really nice,” Hoppe said.