Ten high school drill and dance teams comprised of over 200 dancers from the South Sound area competed Saturday, November 12 at Tumwater High School for the “Back to Basics” Dance and Drill competition. The event gives local high school teams the ability to qualify for WIAA post season competitions. The event also included a few younger age dance teams from the Tumwater area. Local high school dance teams included teams from Tumwater (host), River Ridge, Shelton, Timberline and Yelm.
Tumwater Dance Team head coach Kim Griffin, was proud of how focused and hard working her team was. “We have worked hard on our strength and conditioning this year and it is paying off in our performances,” Griffin replied when talking about her team’s seven performances. “I was happy with how the competition ran smoothly. All of the teams were supportive of each other and we had a common goal of having a fun, low-key competition and achieving a base line for all the teams continued work this season.”
Tumwater Parks and Recreation had two teams compete at the event. Their teams were the “Midways” (second-fifth grade) and “Juniors” (sixth-eighth grade). Bush Middle School’s dance team also competed along with 40 mini dance clinic participants.
Timberline High School head coach Colette Hudson thought the competition was a great experience. “There are so many talented teams and to have had our team push themselves and place third in both pom and hip hop and qualify for districts is a strong start for our program,” Hudson stated after the competition. “My coaches and I cannot wait to see where the season takes us. We are excited for our next competition, December 10. We host at Timberline at noon and we have many local area teams joining us.”
