The Aliso Niguel High School Dance Team has had a phenomenal season so far, with consecutive back-to-back wins in their team, small and solo routines.
This year the dance team has six different routines, starting with three team dances including a lyrical piece to “Somewhere Only We Know”, a jazz routine called “Diamonds” and a character routine themed after pirates.
“Somewhere Only We Know” is a sweet, lovely routine made to highlight the girl’s abilities and emotions. While “Diamonds” showcases the dancer’s sass and challenges their on-stage character, highlighting the girls’s personality.
The team dance favorite this year is “Pirates” which has been doing amazing this season with two first-place victories at the team’s last two competitions.
“It’s really entertaining, it’s fun. The judges keep wanting us to be greedy but the girls aren’t very greedy. Yet at this last competition, we actually scored very high in our showmanship which has been our goal this season. They scored in the 18s across the board,” says dance team coach and advisor, Ann-Maire Desiano.
Pirates has not only been a judge’s favorite this season but has a lot of love from the dance team girls as well.
Dance team captain, Dana Smith (12), states, “Pirate is my favorite routine because it’s super fun to play a different character on stage!”
Along with the three team dances are three small groups including a small hip hop, small lyrical and a returning dancer routine showcasing the juniors and seniors of the team.
The final numbers performed are two solos by seniors Dana Smith and Madeline Pelle, with Smith performing a contemporary routine and Pelle a hip-hop solo.
Both have performed at every competition with Smith making the top ten at the Ms. Cal competition back in January, landing her a spot at Ms. USA Dance Drill where she’ll be competing individually.
The soloists also have an aspect of creativity in their routines, “I chose my costume and I helped choreograph a bit,” says Pelle.
Despite the challenges or injuries, which often require last-minute restaging and alterations, the girls have been able to build a strong comradery and truly connect with one another as a team.
As the seniors season is about to end Pelle states, “We will miss this team as most of us have been on here for four years and it’s truly been an amazing memory. We will definitely miss the girls and the coaches and hope they do well next season!”
Desiano who has been a Dance Team coach and advisor for 33 years, 26 at Aliso, and hopes the girls will continue to carry dance with them as a lifestyle and as a passion beyond their time at Aliso.
“This is more of a lifetime journey not just being a moment in high school, but the lifetime lessons they learn and what they’ll get out of it in the long run,” states Desiano.
She strongly values the connections she’s made with all her dancers throughout the years and hopes the girls will do the same as dance is a lifelong bond.
