JDHS dance team are top entertainers and athletes

With the culmination of their performance still echoing across the George Houston Gymnasium, the members of the Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé dance team seemingly were pushed through the gym floor exits by waves of fan applause and peer approval.

Moments later, finding an empty school room they stood in a large circle holding hands.

“After every performance when we debut a new routine, we get in a circle and each person says a positive thing, like if they improved something or hit a skill or just had fun,” JDHS senior dance team first lieutenant Bristol Casperson said. “It just keeps the energy up after we debut a new routine.”

The dance team’s focus is unity and working together, their 2024-25 team motto is “Stay Humble Hustle Hard.”

“We are known for holding our dancers to a high level of discipline, work ethic and sportsmanship, as well as entertaining performances for our hometown crowd,” JDHS dance coach Kayla Price said.

With the closure of Thunder Mountain High School, the returning members of the smaller Falcons dance team were welcomed with open arms.

“We have four TMHS dancers, but we don’t really think of them as TM or JD because we’re all one team now,” Price said. “We started the season with open gyms to welcome and get to know new dancers, which helped ease some of the initial nerves. We also have a good-size freshmen class so we are spending time teaching everyone our team’s values, expectations and traditions. Each dancer is treated equally and has the same opportunities regardless of where they danced last year.”

The team’s first practice was Oct. 5, and preseason started in August. The season runs through April 19, which is their final show of the season.

“Outside of season, we have open gyms a couple of times per week during the spring and summer,” Price said. “Team leaders spend the summer attending camps and preparing for the next season. Dance is a year-long sport, and these athletes work very hard to stay in shape and improve their skills.”

Senior captain Isabella Cadigan McAdoo has been a JDHS dance team member for four years.

“I would say after each season even when we get new team members — like especially this year we added a lot of new people to the team — and even though we are only halfway through our season it already feels like we know each other really well,” she said. “It feels like we have been dancing with each other for years. So I feel like that is not something you get on every sports team. It is pretty unique to dance, which is nice.”

Cadigan McAddo started dancing at age 3 with TAFY Dance Alaska.

“I just try to keep the energy up, I guess,” Cadigan McAdoo said of her position. “Even when we have really rigorous practices we have four-hour practices every single Saturday. So a lot of times people are getting tired halfway through and so I like to just keep the team productive, but also like make sure everyone is still having fun and everyone is there for a reason so people still know why they are doing that.”

Originally a drill-based dance team, the officer designations have been honored and passed down through the seasons.

“I would say within the team aspect, the officers get together way early prior to the season and choreograph routines,” Casperson said. “We pull from old stuff and are just bonding ourselves to just lead a well-functioning, well-oiled machine as a team.”

Said Cadigan McAdoo, “Obviously all officers kind of have a higher leadership position than the regular team members, but I think for the first lieutenants and captains you kind of just have to be more aware of the team, I think. Like you have a lot of different personalities and people obviously coming from different studios. So I think, at least for us, we just kind of have to be more aware of what’s going on in each practice, what our team needs in terms of dance, or also just being together and watching if people are like standing alone, things like that.”

Casperson has also been on the dance team for four years. She first started dancing at age 3 with Janice Holst and then the Fusion Dance Studio.

“Honestly, and especially for this team, it is just the community you find,” she said. “We do have a really long season. We have long practice hours. We are spending a lot of our time with each other in school and then at practice and then in our social lives as well. And it is just building a bonding like nowhere else. You are not going to find it anywhere else but right here.”

Senior first lieutenant Reonna Maloney is another four-year dance team member.

She also began dancing at age 3 and instantly fell in love with the sport. Even at a young age she was immersed in Juneau Dance Theatre, Fusion and TAFY.

“I love that I can just, like, look anywhere and I just, like, crave to go to dance,” Maloney said. “I can get slammed with just, like, finals or work but I just find peace in dance. Just, like, dancing by myself or just, like, seeing our routines just like come together so beautifully and the crowd loving that…to be on this team you have to hold yourself accountable, but as officers we are also held accountable over, like, all the team members we are in charge of or we help with.”

The team has five regular season routines of two to three minutes and a Region V tournament routine of five minutes.

Just like the audience, the JDHS Dance Team officers have their favorite routines and are excited about each.

“Hip hop,” Cadigan McAdoo said. “Every single year hip hop is my all-time favorite and especially this routine that we just put out there, like, I remember when we were first learning it from the choreographer and, like, you can just tell that it is going to be a really fun routine and when the crowd is going to love it. I just love how much energy goes into it every time, it’s just my favorite.”

Casperson said, “I’ve got to say light march. Just because for some reason when all the lights turn off the crowd goes insane, which always helps bring our energy up. It is also one where we are allowed to cheer for each other because we are in the dark so we can be hyping each other up as well which is always fun.”

For Maloney there is one yet to be seen this season.

“This year it is hip hop but I am also super excited for pom,” she said. “Because I think the crowd loves that one, too.”

The trio is also thinking about their senior class this season. The eight seniors are considering doing a routine for their Show Time finale with only the seniors, as a tribute to the team.

“We are also bringing back our military routine,” Cadigan McAdoo said. “We didn’t do that one last year. And that one, the visuals, it is a crowd pleaser so that one is exciting too.”

The Military March piece is expected to be performed at the end of January and the Pom routine in mid-February.

This year the team will be adjudicated at the Region V tournament in Ketchikan, and then plan to perform at the State Cheer and Basketball tournaments in Anchorage. In the past they have won national and international championships in dance and drill, most recently in 2019 for their Military March.

In the locker room hallway near the court, a senior officer was comforting a freshman member before their Friday halftime number.

“You can do this,” she said. “You have this. You have practiced this over and over, and we have you. We are proud of you.”

And as the Juneau Dance Team was announced, the crowd noise rose and the dancers — freshmen through seniors — drew the gymnasium into their grasp and released upon them the three minutes of artistic athletic acme of competitive dance.

The JDHS Dance Team:

Seniors – Isabella Cadigan McAdoo (Captain), Bristol Casperson (1st Lieutenant), Reonna Maloney (1st Lieutenant), Haylee Baxter (Officer), Serena Crupi (Officer), Shaelynn Lee (Officer), Amelia Yadao (Officer), Laura Gibb and Stella Moran.

Juniors – Yetke Mertl (Officer) and Claire Snyder.

Sophomores – Nevaeh Algabre, Madison Ballou, Aubrey Boyden, Linnea Bush, Dalnoi Keaton, Jillian Levy and Ava Meier.

Freshmen – Radar Araujo, Romy Barrett, Azaleigha Castaneda, Nevah Lupro, Baila Ouellette, Calli Peterson, Kallie Puustinen, Riley Severance and manager Zoey Price.

Head coach is Kayla Price and assistant coaches are Christa Baxter and Krista Delcastillo. Principal choreographer is Madison (Madie) Gruhn of Studio West Dance Academy and Theatre in Olympia, Washington.

• Contact Klas Stolpe at klas.stolpe@juneauempire.com.