High kicks and high praise

Texas Highsteppers receive many top awards at contest

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submitted photo

Story by Addison Cross, news editor

The Texas Highsteppers competed at the Danceline Competition on March 2 and came back with a multitude of honors. The team has worked since November to perfect their performances.

“We start learning contest dances after Thanksgiving and the team auditions for them the first day we come back from Christmas break,” director Amber Reynolds said. “From there, we start polishing each dance almost immediately and preparing for performances like Red Lick tours, eighth grade orientation, as well as basketball games.”

Reynold’s was glad that the team’s hard work over the past four months has paid off with big wins.

“I feel incredibly proud. It can get exhausting and monotonous working on the same four dances for four months, but it’s amazing to watch motivation to become determination,” Reynolds said. “The day of each contest, the girls are encouraging and give helpful reminders and tips to team members from freshmen [to] officers. Our overall attitude changes to joy and excitement to perform and it definitely helps to have a sea of parents cheering them on when they enter the floor. I’m highly competitive, so coming home from two contests both with top ratings makes me happy. However, seeing the team grow in such a short amount of time means more to me than anything.”

The Highsteppers received honors including Ring of Champions third place, out of 15 teams, Team Gold for the highest scoring team routine, and the Overall Awards for Military, Novelty, and Pom, among many other team and individual awards.