Three sports seasons have already finished since the Juneau-Douglas and Thunder Mountain high school dance teams began their first practices in September.
Four more sports will end in October, three more in November, and when December wrestling gives way to the beginning of basketball season, the Crimson Bears and Falcons dancers will only be a third of the way through their grueling year.
“We all become a family after dancing every day,” JDHS senior captain Ashley Wittwer said. “I mean, we dance for, like, nine months. It is just crazy.”
Wittwer knows the hard work that is expected during the season, and what’s required from her as captain.
“It is leading a group of people doing what they love and making a good product out of it,” Wittwer said. “Dance takes so much from each individual girl, because we are all different people, to all dance as one. So not only is it dancing the same choreography but it is also morphing together as a team.”
Most of the returning dancers for both JDHS and TMHS started in the summer. September’s fall tryouts rounded out their rosters.
Often dismissed as a pretty smile or a cute costume, dance teams actually require just as much dedication, athleticism and adherence to studies as any other sport on the Alaska School Activities Association calendar.
TMHS captain Myrica Wildes has been a Falcons dancer four years.
“I have been dancing since I was really little, probably four or five,” Wildes said. “I have done all types of dance. I am just really happy to be here and help out the team. I really just want the team to improve. I give a lot of encouragement and lead warm ups and stretching and stuff, and just encourage them to keep pushing hard even when they want to just stop.”
A dancer can expect early morning or late evening practices four to six days a week, and additional weights, cardio and interval training. They can expect little travel rewards and possibly performing a total of three minutes on some weekends.
Thus upper classmen are important as both the Crimson Bears and Falcons; both teams have more freshmen and sophomore dancers this year than in previous seasons.
“Our biggest challenge is that we have pretty much a brand new team,” JDHS coach Kyla Price said. “We lost 12 seniors so we have a lot of first-year team members. We are teaching the basics of dance team and the fundamentals of dance and building up from there. We have been working with some of these girls since the spring and we have seen a huge improvement. They are excited to be here and we are able to mold them into the dancers that we need them to be. There are a lot of corrections we give them but they take it very well, they work hard to improve and have a good time doing it.”
TMHS coach Heidi Boucher also sees the excitement of a new season.
“The kids are really close and we have no drama,” Boucher said. “They work really hard and it has been great just being a part of coaching them.”
Boucher’s daughter, Ashley, was on the first dance team the Falcons had. Two season’s ago Boucher was asked to take over for coach Keegan Carroll, who wanted to spend more time with her family.
“Oh my god, I did not even dance in high school,” Boucher said. “I didn’t know how I would be able to do it. But I had a lot of help and we had a really good year last year.”
The Falcons recorded their first ever Superior rating at the Region V basketball tournament last season in front of a packed gymnasium in Ketchikan.
Dance is one of the sports in Juneau that actually has opposing fans cheering for the cross-town mascot or the colors from out of town.
Schools realize the amount of time and energy invested by the team members.
“All the sports teams in Juneau try to demonstrate good sportsmanship,” Boucher said. “I think dance teams have it easier since we do not directly compete with other teams. Last year when we got our first-ever Superior, both JDHS and Kayhi came over immediately to hug and congratulate us. When JD performed their first routine at the football game this year, our dance team got together and wished them good luck before their performance, cheered them on, and then congratulated them afterwards. Both JD and Kayhi coaches were really helpful to me last year as a first-year head coach. It is nice to belong to such an encouraging sport.”
Both JDHS and TMHS will have their versions of pom, hip-hop, military precision drill and jazz routines. TMHS will have their precision routine and JDHS is bringing back their military march. JDHS will also have their much-anticipated annual light march and both schools will have a surprise for the Region V basketball tournament competition March 9-12 in Sitka. Fans can also expect to see the JDHS Showtime and TMHS Season Finale in April.
JDHS DANCE TEAM
Seniors – Ashley Wittwer (captain), Anna Tran (1st lieutenant), Varsha Chhabria; Juniors – Jonah Gonzales (officer), Hannah Sheridan (officer), Ashleigh Rich (manager); Sophomores – Isabella Bugayong, Rebecca Marx, Noalani Davenport, Abigail McDermott, Jasquel Moses, Ashley Lee, Adela Diaz; Freshmen – Jorace Gonzales, Karmen Funderburk, Kate Bergey, Hope Carpenter, Julianna Kawakami, Claire Jardell; Coaches – Kayla Price, Charlotte Bennett, Kelsey Castagnola, Kyla Camba.
TMHS DANCE TEAM
Seniors – Myrica Wildes (captain), Carlie Kollar (officer), KJ Jackson, Rebecka Miller, Ashley Rosa; Juniors – Jayce Wendling (officer), Madison Gilberto, Meagan Janicek (manager), Kara Sepel (manager); Sophomores – Seora Chon (officer), Kylie Kulbeth (officer), Brady Allio, Maddie Campos, Dakota Purcell; Freshmen – Michaela Crabtree, Andrea Haynes, Catriona Pearson, Karin Rathbone, Katie Ward; Coaches – Heidi Boucher, Sharon Wildes, Elyssa Kelley, Erika Sangster.
The Juneau-Douglas High School Crimson Bears dance team at Saturday morning’s practice in the JDHS gym.
The Thunder Mountain High School Falcons dance team during Saturday morning’s practice at TMHS gym.
