From creating closer connections to dancing with a different organization than usual, this season was one of growth for the EHS dance team.

“This is the closest I’ve ever been with a team,” senior Emma Vuagniaux said, “and I feel like with every performance whether it was a competition or [not] we grew closer and grew as dancers and as people.”

While the team did not qualify for IHSA state, according to the Alton Telegraph, it did qualify for the IDTA state competition.

After competing at IDTA state, the dance team headed to Orlando, Florida for the Dance Team Union national competition, Vuagniaux said.

“At the beginning of the season we submitted a video of the team performing, and the DTU people looked over it then invited us to the competition,” Vuagniaux said.

The team performed a lyrical routine to a cover of “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” and placed 13th out of the approximately 50 teams in the category.

The trip wasn’t just about dancing for many senior members of the team, including senior Ella Cooper.

“It was my last time dancing with my team,” Cooper said. “So just building those memories with them one last time [was my favorite part].”

A specific memory for Vuagniaux was the pre show ritual the team does.

“Before we go on each time we perform we get into a circle with our arms around each other and just hype ourselves up and try to get rid of nerves… and it really helps our team bond,” she said. “Since this was our last competition together that moment really meant a lot.”

While the team’s last performance of the season was in Orlando, according to Vuagniaux, the strongest was at the state level.

“All of us were very emotional and it just makes the dance feel more real and helps us create a story to tell the judges through our dance,” Vuagniaux said.

In order to tell that story, dancers have to channel emotion through their body movements, she said.

“You don’t just reach your arm, you reach from your back through your arm and stretch your fingertips as far as they’ll go,” she said. “You put everything you have behind each movement… and hopefully the judges can feel your emotion through the dance.”