After a long six months of 6 a.m. practices several times a week, Mercy’s Varsity Dance Team can finally relax, sleep in and enjoy their successful season. The final two weeks of the season were the busiest of the year for the team as they had their two biggest competitions: UDA regionals and Catholic Leagues.

MVDT competed at the Universal Dance Association (UDA)  regional competition at Royal Oak High School January 21. This was the second UDA regional competition that Mercy competed at, the first taking place in early December. The team entered in the small varsity division and competed against seven other teams who also qualified for the same category. They performed a lyrical routine, choreographed by choreographer Cheryll Custer-Klein to the song “The Light That Never Fails”. Mercy’s dancers received third place overall, an improvement from the December competition where they placed fourth overall.

Later that week on January 25, MVDT competed alongside the Varsity Pom Team at the Catholic League competition. Catholic Leagues featured two sections to the competition: pom and dance. The pom and dance routines were scored together to determine the best school overall. The dance team performed a Britney Spears inspired jazz routine choreographed and cleaned by the four senior captains: Holly Ashworth, Gabriella Petrucci, Davia Smith and Shannon Seabolt. The team had high hopes going into the competition, since they placed first at the 2017 competition. This year, however, they placed second to Divine Child’s Varsity Dance and Pom Team. Despite not maintaining the winning streak, the team felt proud of their teamwork and dedication.

“I think our performance at Catholic Leagues was really, really good,” said Ashworth. “We were short on time and had to add a lot of practices, so to see how the dance came together at the end was extremely rewarding.”

Much of the team’s success was a result of the efforts of the senior captains who spent several hours outside of practice choreographing and critiquing routines as well as choosing costumes and music. The dedication of the seniors encouraged the entire team to give the season their all and work as a team.

“The seniors of the dance team have been amazing this year,” said junior Avery Ellis. “They have taken leadership and have pushed the girls on the team so much, from coming up with choreography to planning team bonding. They have become more than just teammates; they have become my best friends and like older sisters to me.”

Overall, MVDT is proud of their dance successes and team dynamics.

“I definitely think this team has made huge improvements this year,” said freshman Kendra Fereshetian. “The majority of the team was new this year, so it was a bit of a hassle becoming comfortable with everyone. It took [some time], but we all opened up to each other, and with that came our ability to dance better with each other.”

Catholic League Individual Awards

All League

• Shannon Seabolt
• Holly Ashworth

All Catholic

• Gabriella Petrucci
• Davia Smith