On Saturday, Feb. 4, the JV and varsity Centralettes competed at the 24th annual Lake Central Dance Invitational. The invitational took place in the gymnasium and hosted many schools from the surrounding counties. This was the Centralettes’ last home competition of the season.
“We practice five days a week and we had a six hour practice last Sunday. We’ve been putting in as much time as we can to get ready for this,” Alyssa Carter (12) said.
The Centralettes have been in season since the spring of 2016 and have not taken any breaks since.
“It took us the whole year [to prepare]. The season started in April, so our season is pretty much 11 months long. We take every practice for the fullest,” Sydney Stanek (12) said.
Although each dancer has been competing for a while now, they still have challenges when it comes to competing.
“[Our biggest challenge is] being clean and being synchronized. It’s hard to get 16 girls all in count at the same time and getting sixteen girls to hit their tricks at the same time is very hard too,” Carter said.
Being synchronized takes not only physical concentration, but it challenges the girls mentally by applying pressure and stress.
“The biggest challenge is getting your head in the right place. You just need to have good vibes all around,” Paige Kotecki (11) said.
Local competitions are also used to prepare the Centralettes for bigger competitions like State or Nationals.
“The State floor is a gym floor. So, the gym floor really helps us prepare for our forms and from turning on the floor because it is different from what we practice on at our studio,” Stanek said.
The Centralettes also use it as a way of practicing in front of a large group of people.
“Getting used to the performance and giving it all we have [helps us prepare for bigger competitions]. When we get to bigger stages, we will not be as nervous and we just go all out,” Paige Lambert (9) said.
