After spending around five hours a day switching back and forth between drill team and company dance, junior Hannah Klumpp takes any break she can get at dance to sit in her white Mazda in the Starstruck Performing Arts Center parking lot. Whether she is sitting in silence or listening to her music, it’s a break from her coaches telling her to point her toes and hearing the song “Turn to Stone” by Ingrid Michaelson that played constantly in the studio.
Many of the Lancer Dancers, like Klumpp, balance both school, dance and company dance, the majority of them dancing at Starstruck. With all of these responsibilities, they still have to stay on top of their academics and keep their friendships. Even just one of these burdens can become overwhelming.
The school dance team is where they learn three routines and work all year to perfect them, according to Grecian. They also do a few dances for fun.
“I really love dance team and the people," Klumpp said. “And Starstruck is good for the soul, I know that sounds stupid, but it trains me to be a good person and both have [benefits] so I wouldn’t quit either.”
Usually, Klumpp gets home from dance at 9:30 p.m and that’s when she will eat dinner and begin her homework. This could last until around 12:00 a.m., giving her only six hours of sleep before she has to wake up at 6:30 a.m. for school and do it all over again.
Klumpp isn’t the only one dealing with little free time; freshman Ella Emmott, who is a first-year varsity Lancer Dancer figuring out how to balance her life. For Starstruck, Emmott is a part of around 16 dances this year compared to the three dances she is in for the Lancer Dancer team. Having 19 dances to balance can quickly become challenging.
The dance team is more team-oriented compared to company dance, according to Emmott. Company dance focuses more on technique and training with more variation in styles. Every dancer is very different as they get to choose from a variety of dance categories, such as jazz, ballet, contemporary, modern, compared to the dance team having game day, pop, hip-hop and jazz.
Emmott has had to adjust to the new schedule dance, team from 1:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., and then going to Starstruck from 4:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. This rigorous schedule ended up being harder than she expected, as she doesn’t have much time for homework or hanging out with friends.
“I definitely underestimated how much of a change it would be,” Emmott said. “It's a lot more stressful to do both, but at the end of the day, there's more pros than cons.”
Some pros for Emmott include working super hard in class and rehearsals, making memories that will last a lifetime and achieving goals she has been working on with her teams.
After moving into the district this year, Emmott has had to adjust to meeting new people, but close friends at both dance team and Startstruck which has helped her stay positive and continue to enjoy the experience.
“I feel like dance is a sport that is hard to have self-confidence with,” Emmott said. “But when you're surrounded by all those girls we can all bond over [dance] and make memories you’ll always love.”
Like Emmott and Klumpp, junior Maci Grecian has danced at Starstruck since seventh grade and learned how to prioritize her schoolwork. During any free time she has throughout the day, she's usually pulling out her MacBook to avoid staying up all night.
There are definitely times the girls have asked if it’s worth it when they come back from dance at 9:30 p.m. and have loads of homework, they also know they love what they do, so it’s worth it. Grecian's love for dance comes from her love of preforming, whether it’s in front of the whole school or thousands of people at a dance competition.
“I personally love performing and always having something to do,” Grecian said. “I don’t know what I would do with myself if I didn't have a really strict schedule and also perform for the school and get involved.”
But it also comes with sacrifices, having this much dance limits availability to participate in other things like other sports, SHARE, Pep Club Executive and social time.
With long hours every day, taking care of their bodies is a huge priority to ensure they can keep up with daily life. They all strongly focus on eating healthy to nourish their bodies and trying to get as much sleep as possible, even if that means missing out on things.
For the dancers, 30 hours weeks, intense practices and late nights have become a routine, but even with sacrifices and pushing through the exhaustion is just a part of doing what they love.
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