The fall 2023 season for the Prairie High School dance team was very successful, even after canceling the tryouts for the fall. The coaches decided it would not be fair to the new girls on the teams to have to learn the dances for football games in two weeks before they started performing. They waited until the 10th of October when their winter tryouts were scheduled. The dance team did not compete during the fall season but did perform at all home games for the football team, during halftime.

The dance team spent most of their fall season practicing and preparing for the football games they attended and for the winter season which is when they start competing. “My favorite personally was definitely the combined halftime performance between cheer and dance for the homecoming game. It just was a lot of fun to put together and the dance was tons of fun. It was just great to see the two teams collaborate and it just made it super enjoyable. I feel like the students as well liked it a ton so that just made it great,” says Ellie Ogle, a sophomore at Prairie who is one of the captains of the varsity dance team and a member of the varsity cheer team. A good memory made during the fall season was, “probably our last football game because we said goodbye to one of our coaches and it was sad but it was special,” as stated by Grace Bowers, a sophomore on the junior varsity team for cheer and a varsity captain for the dance team. The bond between the girls on the dance team is well known, and when asked about something that they wish to see carry on with the team is the energy and relationships between the dancers themselves.

They participated in a few fundraising and volunteer events. Some of them included activities such as donating large bags of clothes to raise money for the team for things like uniforms and costumes. On the 23rd of October, they went to Vintage Gardens Rustic Events, a wedding venue in Ridgefield, where they helped to properly take down and put away a large tent for wedding events. They also participated in the “trunk or treat” in the Prairie parking lot, representing the team.

In August, the girls on the dance team went to a dance camp where they learned a lot of dances that are now being used for performances. According to Kaytlin Nielson, one of her favorite memories was, “ Going to camp. We got to split up into groups to stay in our rooms, and it was an amazing team bonding experience.” When asked about the dance camp further, it was explained that this was Prairie’s first year back at UDA, where the camp took place. Grace Bowers also added, “It was an overnight camp at the University of Puget Sound, and we danced a lot. Every day we went to I think five different groups to learn dances and we performed for each other and we competed with other teams, and we worked with other teams and we had a lot of fun.” 

 The dance team didn’t have many crazy events but many crazy memories together, making this last fall season very enjoyable. With many dances and many memories to come, the girls on the dance team are ready for the competition season to start.