The Orono Dance Team competed at the annual state dance competition on Feb. 16-17 for their second year in a row. It was held at the Target Center in Minneapolis. Orono was one of the 12 schools in the Class AA section to qualify for state, according to the Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL) website. The jazz competition took place on the first day, and the high kick competition took place the next day on Feb. 17. Orono competed in the hick kick competition.

The Orono Dance Team participates in the Wright County Conference with Waconia, Delano, Litchfield, Holy Family Catholic/Southwest Christian, New Prague, New London-Spicer, Mound Westonka, Glencoe-Silver Lake, Hutchinson and Rockford, according to the Wright County Conference website.

ODT had a successful 2016-2017 winter performance season with their Beetlejuice themed kick dance and a lyrical jazz dance.

“We had to do something different for jazz because we lost eight dancers last year. We took a jazz approach instead of a lyrical approach like the year before,” varsity head coach Sharon Forde said, “It was upbeat and a lot of fun. All the dancers grew tremendously throughout the year.”

The 2017-2018 winter competition season was led by senior captains Regan Welch and Olivia Hedeen, and junior captain Maddix Grady. The team was coached by Sharon Forde and assisted by Meghan Jensen, Kaitlin Budish and Jenna Weber.

This was Forde’s third year as the ODT varsity head coach partnered with Jensen and Budish. This was Weber’s second with the team. They coached the team last year as they made the trek to the Target Center where they placed 8th in high kick and 11th in jazz at the state dance competition. Forde won the Minnesota Association of Dance Teams (MADT) class AA Head Coach of the Year Award during the 2016-2017 season.

“The main difference between this competition season and past years would be that we are starting build a stronger program in both kick and jazz,” Forde said.

Dance team at the high school level consists of a B team and two different JV and varsity teams. Orono has all three teams. High kick and jazz each have a specific set of dancers on each team. At Orono, there are only 11 dancers on the varsity jazz team and those dancers also dance on the varsity high kick team. In total, there are 26 girls on the varsity high kick team, with only two seniors; Welch and Hedeen.

“When we are dancing there is nothing better than knowing the team is all there to support and cheer each other on throughout the whole routine,” freshman varsity dancer Carson Bunkers said.

According to the ODT website, the team competed in three conference meets and five invitationals during the 2017-2018 competition season. At the end of the season, the team participated in the section 3AA tournament where three teams from each division were selected to compete in the state dance tournament.

“We started off the season thinking we wouldn’t make it too far since we lost a lot of seniors, but we scored very well and were very successful and even better than last year,” senior captain and varsity dancer Olivia Hedeen said.

ODT has a new dance theme every year. This year they chose a heavy theme of Alice in Wonderland for the high kick dance. They tell the whole story of Alice with actual characters, according to varsity head coach Sharon Forde. Each of the captains had a character to portray. Welch played Alice with a individual costume to look like Alice’s dress. Hedeen acted as the white rabbit and Grady was the Queen of Hearts. Their dance included Alice falling down the rabbit hole, meeting the rabbit and the tea party with the Queen. The dances end with everyone surrounding Alice, eventually making her way back up the rabbit hole.

“I like how unique our Alice dance is. It feels like we are truly telling a story, rather than just doing the same motions over and over again,” sophomore varsity dancer Grace Larsen said.

The team started their performance season on Dec. 2 with an invitational in Apple Valley; they placed 4th in Jazz and 3rd in Kick. Throughout the season, the team performed during halftime at many Orono basketball games along with their regular conference meets and invitationals. As the ODT season progressed, their kick dance came in 1st at the Lakeville South competition. They had a very successful season in both kick and jazz with the section 3AA tournament on Feb. 3.

Their varsity jazz dance placed 4th in sections and their varsity team placed 3rd in the section high kick tournament which is a state qualifier. The team debuted their Alice in Wonderland themed kick dance at the state tournament, according to the ODT Facebook page.  

“The season went very well, we graduated a lot of dancers last year so we didn’t know quite how it would go. The rookies stepped up to the challenge with the leadership of their captains and return veteran dancers,” Forde said.

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The team placed 9th for their kick routine at the state competition. Awards are only handed out for 1st through 6th place. Sophomore Josie Peterson, junior Maddix Grady and seniors Regan Welch and Olivia Hedeen were chosen for the 2018 All-State Dance Team. The All-State Dance Team is a performance that will include top dancers from all around the state of Minnesota, with jazz and kick performances from dancers in classes A, AA and AAA. Peterson and Hedeen were selected for kick, while Welch and Hedeen were selected for jazz. The performance took place on March 10 at Eden Prairie High School.

“All of the girls were amazing to work with; they are so dedicated to this sport,” Forde said, “and we were so honored to be able to represent Orono again at the state tournament.”

The team concluded their dance season with an annual end of the year banquet on March 11. The coaches recognized the seniors, announced new captains, gave out awards for both dance and academic achievement. They are looking forward to a successful season next year.