The Dance Team smiles at the camera with their Division I Rating plaque after a long day at State Dance 2014.

State Dance was held at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines on December 5th and 6th. The North Tama Dance Team was one of around 250 teams to participate. They danced in the Class IV Pom along with 12 others teams. The Dance Team received 6th place and was rewarded a Division I Rating plaque.

“I would have loved to come home with some hardware. However, I still think that the Division I ranking was awesome!” said Becky Adams, North Tama Dance Team Sponsor.

The Dance Team headed down to Des Moines on the 4th and had dinner and then enjoyed some team bonding by playing a few games. They woke up at five the next morning and headed to the Wells early to dance at their performance time of 8:12. The team danced to the songs “Royal” by Lorde and “Applause” by Lady Gaga.

“To be on the floor in front of a giant crowd is a really awesome feeling, it is so fun to feel the energy from everyone, and just be in the moment,” said Brieanna Ewoldt, junior and co-captain of the dance team.

“Being on the floor, dancing, is a feeling that you can’t explain. I would give anything to do it one more time,” said Abby Kopriva, senior and captain of the dance team.

After the team danced, they watched the rest of their class and then headed to the hotel for a little while to get rested up. They headed to the mall and had some fun until awards that night at nine. It was definitely a long night but worth the wait.

“We’re a larger squad this year and have some young talent. Their improvements are across the board in many techniques that they lacked when they tried out. I was very proud of their work before state and felt like we placed well considering the stiff competition with some solid teams entering our class this year,” said Adams.

Kopriva foreshadows what the dance team has planned for the rest of the year.”I look forward to the new COED dance and new song mixes I have made. Look for a Christmas dance and a glow in the dark at the basketball games,” said Kopriva.