The Becker Bulldogs’ competitive dance team, the Dazzlers, have started out their season breaking scoring records and they show no sign of stopping.

At their first Mississippi 8 Conference kick and jazz meets each of the teams were ranked 1st. The team also competed in a 14-team invitational at St. Cloud Tech High School, with varsity jazz taking 2nd place and varsity kick taking 7th.

“At each of these events we’ve broken a scoring record, so it’s been a very exciting year so far,” said Head Coach Nadia Fischer-Danzeisen.

Tuesday saw the Dazzlers competing at home in another jazz conference meet, where they once again broke records and the varsity and JV jazz teams both placed 1st. 

The team has also participated in two dance showcases, the Great Becker Dance Get Together on Nov. 15 and another in Sartell the next day.

This is Danzeisen’s second season as head coach of the Dazzlers. She’s been with the team since 2014, first with the junior varsity team and then co-coaching varsity with Julie Baloun. Assistant coaches this year are Megan Timm, Rhi Edwards Madison Anderson and Ashley Gast.

The Dazzlers’ season is 19 weeks, which includes choreography all the way through to the state tournament; the leadership team choreographs the dance routines two weeks before team practice starts. This year choreography began Oct. 7 with practice beginning on the 21st. 

The 31-member team practices every day after school in the Intermediate School gym. Before their first competition they also practiced Mondays and Wednesdays before school, and summer often finds them practicing 2-3 days a week.

“One of the things I think most people don’t know about MSHSL Dance Team is that we go to the section tournament with two varsity rosters,” said Danzeisen. “This means we have two different teams to get ready each year, which requires more practice time than other sports teams typically need.”

The team came into their season strong with a number of experienced dancers.

“One of our strengths is that a large number of our girls have been dancing together for several years now, so cleaning our routines is going much faster than it usually does,” said Danzeisen. “We have several extremely talented team members, so we’re excited about showcasing them throughout the season.”

The team boasts six seniors this year; Team Captain Autumn Martin, Captain Cienna Pleoger, Captain Madison Pleoger, Heaven Bray, Taylor Larson and Isabelle Swanson.

“This year is very sentimental for me as a coach,” said Danzeisen. “Six years ago, I was hired by Becker to coach our JV team, and over time I started working with the varsity team before being hired as the sole head coach last year. This is the first group of seniors I’ve seen through the entire program and I would love nothing more than to help them lead their team to a first-ever conference title and first-ever state appearance.”

She expressed thanks to all the seniors and their families for their dedication and leadership to the team.

Even though the season has just begun, the Dazzlers have been hearing more compliments on their routines than ever before. After their first showcase in November, a coach from a competing team shared with Danzeisen that the team had never looked better.

“One of the things we’re particularly focusing on is presence and confidence in our movements,” said Danzeisen. “We want their energy to fill up the gym when they’re competing.”

Up next for the Dazzlers is a conference meet in Big Lake on Dec. 10, followed by another on Dec. 13 in Chisago Lakes.