After performing for both the IDTA and IHSA on Jan. 18 the Dance team is bound for the IHSA sectional competition and IDTA state competition.

Preparation for the season starts in June according to senior Emma Vuagniaux. Training lasts through the summer and is put into practice at football and basketball games until the competition season starts in December.

“Our team learns our competition dance in late August,” said Vuagniaux, “then continues improving it all the way through our last competition in February.”

In addition to the two state competitions, the team will also be traveling to compete at nationals at Disney World later this year according to senior Taylor Mcolgan, the winter head captain.

Saturday’s competition saw EHS place first in the Class 3A Lyrical category for IDTA which qualified the team for state.

As for IHSA, the team finished third out of 22 teams according to the Intelligencer.

After Saturday, the team is working to improve its routine.

“We have been working hard to make our dance more difficult and clean up the parts that needed work from Saturday,” Mcolgan said.

To impress the judges the team aims to master many small aspects and then combines them in their performance.

“The competition is judged in difficulty and musicality as well as uniformity and technique,” Vuagniaux said.

In addition to the difficulty and technique, emotion plays an important role in the judging.

“Dancers must also demonstrate showmanship and a bit of theatrics to help the judges understand what they are telling through their dance,” Vuagniaux said.

With lots of moving parts, the team needs to stay organized in practice and competition.

“I try to motivate my team to stay positive and make sure everyone is ready to go for every competition,” Mcolgan said.

With only a few major competitions left this season next on the plate is to secure the IHSA state qualification.