Everyone had their sports teams in high school. There were the soccer girls, the basketball girls, the tennis girls, and then there were the dance team girls. Those other teams were simply "sports", but for some reason your dance team always felt like a family.
Being on a dance team in high school will definitely always be a fond memory of your past, even if you went on to dance more in college. Here are some things that high school dance girls are sure to understand.
1. Every time you hear a song you've danced to, you immediately start doing the moves in your head.
Sometimes, when you're feeling really energized, you get up and do the dance (marking it though of course). You also make sure to tell everyone around you, "OMG, I did a dance to this once." After hours upon hours of practicing, it's hard to forget a dance once you've learned it. No matter how many years it has been, you probably still know it.
2. When you tell people you danced in high school, they instantly ask you to do a split.
For some reason, people always seem to think that once you've learned to dance, you'll be flexible and have perfect balance for the rest of your life. It's been a while, people. I can no longer kick my leg to my face or drop into a split on command unless I at least warm up a little first.
3. Whenever girl drama is going on, your friends always look to you as the problem solver.
Dance teams are like sisterhoods. You hang out with your team after school almost every day, at 5 a.m. for morning practices twice a week, and for day long events like competitions and performances. While this is tons of fun, it gets to be stressful, girls get cranky, and there's at least one instance a week where a girl snaps on someone else.
After being around drama like this for so long and hoping to avoid it like the plague, you know how to calm people down and get them to settle their differences better than anyone else in your friend group.
4. You always find random hair accessories and sequins around your house.
For some reason, those darn things never seem to go away. Even if it's from an outfit you wore four years ago, those sequins will forever turn up in the most random places.
5. UDA camp (or any other dance camp) felt miserable when you went, but when you look back on it, it was actually pretty fun.
The best memories are made when you're sleep deprived, your feet are hurting, and you feel like you could eat a whole pizza by yourself. During the experience, it kinda sucks and you can't wait to go home, but after it's over you can't help but realize that you got so much closer to your team as you bonded over your exhaustion and the quest for the blue ribbon.
6. Everyone has that one coach who made them really love to dance.
Coaches make a huge impact on how a team runs. My dance team coach my sophomore and junior years was always challenging me to get better and try harder. She encouraged me when I felt down, and made sure that we were always acting like a sisterhood. Those years, my team was the closest it had ever been and we made some of the fondest memories of my high school career. Everyone had a coach like this. Whether you had the same coach your whole way through or your team had multiple coaches, everyone has that one who really made them love this sport.
7. You still get angry when people say dance is not a sport.
Dance has no off season. We practiced for hours every day, had to memorize dances in a short amount of time, lifted people, turned without falling, bent our legs in ways some never knew was humanly possible, and tumbled without killing ourselves. Anyone who does not see this as a sport is crazy in my book.
8. You'll always be a(n) (insert team name).
The school pride you gain while being on a high school dance team is almost big as the dance team pride that you gain. Even on those days when you debated quitting or felt like you wanted to punch someone, you still loved your team and all of the girls on it. Through all the ups and downs, I wouldn't trade my experience on my high school dance team for anything.
