The Becker Dazzlers have “jazzed up” their routines for competition in the hopes they’ll have the quality of performances that’ll get them on par with some of the best dance teams in the state.
Laura Anderson returns as head coach with Julie Baloun returning as assistant and Nadia Fischer-Danziesen taking over for Bridget Tiegland as JV coach.
The Dazzlers will be performing a number of dance productions at home and at nearby locations including Jan. 8 at home in a jazz conference meet, Jan. 17 at Monticello High School in a dance team invitational, Jan. 22 at St. Cloud Cathedral for a kick and jazz conference meet, Jan. 31 at Big Lake for sections, Feb. 5 during halftime of the Becker Bulldog boys basketball game and Feb. 10 the JV and varsity dance squads will perform again during halftime of the boys basketball JV and varsity games.
The Dazzlers’ jazz captains this year are junior Madison Anderson and senior Alexandra Laudenbach. The kick captains are senior Lindsay Baloun and junior Heather Sanders.
The Dazzlers are comprised of 15 girls on varsity kick as compared to just 12 last year. For jazz, they have one more than last year with 13 girls.
Besides new routines, the girls will be showing off their new jazz uniforms after kick got new uniforms last year. They alternate every couple years and re-utilize the past uniforms for the JV team since they are a self-funded program.
The Dazzler’s season actually began back on Oct. 20 and will conclude Feb. 14.
“Coaches Baloun, Fischer-Danziesen and myself are excited about the level of talent on both the varsity and JV teams this season,” said Head Coach Anderson. “We have a great group of young women who demonstrate a strong work ethic and the willingness to accept change - and thrive on it. We had a very good year in the 2013-2014 season and we anticipate additional growth and success in the 2014-2015 season!”
The technique and skill level required for this year's varsity and JV teams has been significantly elevated. For varsity jazz, complex leaps and turns have been incorporated into a routine to the music "Bottom of the River". The athletes have been challenged both in endurance and skill level with this season's choreography.
In varsity kick, the kick combinations and transitions are escalated into challenging formations and should earn the girls additional points in difficulty.
“Additionally, we are dancing to an extremely fast-paced version of "Breathe of Life",” said Anderson. “This music was chosen as a tribute to Brianna Bertram who was a member of the Becker Dance Team last year and passed away from complications of Cystic Fibrosis this past spring.”
Becker’s JV jazz team is dancing to "Clarity" and the JV kick team is dancing to "Crazy Train". Both routines have varsity level skills and technique in the choreography.
The team consists of Madison Anderson, Alexandra Laudenbach, Lindsay Baloun, Heather Sanders, Ali Bloom, Kate Hemminger, Mikayla Henkemeyer, Grace Jacobson, Makenna Kiffmeyer, Amber Mechtel, Morgan Meyer, Rachel Pena, Samantha Stellmach, Melody Swanson and Georgia Thom.
