With a number of new dancers and experiencing competition nerves, the Powell High School dance team had a tough challenge at WHSAA State Spirit in late January, placing fourth in the Jazz routine and sixth in the Hip-Hop competition.

Coach Kelsi Koritnik said the routines this year were choreographed by Jaxton Braten, who brought some fun and beautiful routines for the state competition.

“We took a different direction and took some risks with both routines, especially in Hip-Hop. In Jazz, we picked a song that required intense focus on timing and emotion. Then in Hip-Hop the routine was more Jazz funk with some Spanish inspired moves. With risks, comes room for more errors,” Koritnik said.

She said the team didn’t execute the routines as perfectly as she had seen them do in practice, with the youth of the Panthers showing through.

“Our team is very young and the nerves got to them. It was very noticeable in the routines,” Koritnik said.

While having a number of young dancers on the team this season, Koritnik felt the group improved significantly and had a large skillset this year with the nerves being the main factor at state.

“I feel like my new dancers this season stepped it up. We grew in our skill-set tremendously from a year ago. I had girls doing things that we have never been able to do,” Koritnik said. “That was so exciting and I was extremely proud of them. But stepping out on the state competition floor can be very intimidating, especially for a new dancer.”

She felt like both of the team’s routines brought what they needed to their respective performances, bringing emotion to the Jazz routine while the Hip-Hop routine was upbeat, but timing in each routine proved to be the Panthers’ downfall.

“Our timing and formations were off in both performances. We need to work on moving as one, rather than individuals. We worked on this a lot in practice, but when the nerves and adrenaline hit things didn’t go as practiced,” Koritnik said. “I feel like our Jazz dance was very beautiful and emotional. The dance told a story. No other team brought that amount of emotion or story in their routines. Unfortunately, the other team’s timing and cleanliness was better. Our Hip-Hop dance was full of energy and very fun, but like the Jazz dance our timing was off.”

Koritnik said she is amazed by the amount of time the Panther dancers put in, whether  at the studio or practices. The team increased their practices by half an hour this season, allowing them to build their skills especially in areas such as their turns and head
springs.

While the Panthers were unable to come through with a trophy this season, Koritnik feels this was a good season to springboard the team, which includes a number of returners, for next year.

“We put in more time this year and I think that’s what makes our result at state more disappointing. When you put that much work in you hope that your hard work will pay off,” Koritnik said. “But even though we didn’t leave with a trophy I am so proud of the growth that the dance team made this year. The skills that we gained this year will push us further along next year. Hopefully this cycle will continue and we can be a stronger competitor next year and the years to come.”