Dance Team kicks into a new season with “Train Like a Mustang”

Dance Team hosted its “Train Like a Mustang” camp for elementary and middle school students on Saturday, Aug. 16 in the dance room to help younger dancers refine their dance skills.

The camp aims to fundraise for future competitions and things like gear and equipment for the team. “Train Like a Mustang” was a one day hosted by Walnut Dance Team where elementary school dancers had the opportunity to perform for their parents while middle school dancers participated in a mock audition.

“[The fundraising for the camp] goes to help pay for our competition costs, since those can be pretty pricey. We’ll collect funds throughout the year from various fundraising activities and use those towards competition fees,” Chien said.

The camp’s goal was to polish dance technique and to show its participants how a high school dance team functions. This year, around 60 participants attended “Train Like a Mustang,” and the camp was split into two workshops,each tailored to different age groups. 

“The dancers get a chance to meet all the coaches and dancers on the current team,” assistant coach Jordan Takai said. “They also got a chance to dance with our team’s style and can get a feel of what our practices might be like.”

The first workshop for the younger dancers began with a team stretch led by team captains Savannah Huang and Chloe Olegario and followed by a technique class focused on turns, jumps and kicks by head coach Audrey Wang. Takai taught a jazz combination while a hip-hop combination was choreographed by assistant coach Florrie Ku.

“The workshop was eye opening because even though we were teaching them we were also gaining lessons on how to be better teammates [such as] by practicing patience and kindness to others while also learning new dances along with the kids,” Dance Team social chair sophomore Jamie Ryann Halili said.

The second workshop had a similar schedule but was taught at a more advanced level for the older kids. The dancers performed the pom combo taught by Takai in front of all the coaches during a mock audition. Dancers received scoresheets of their performance along with feedback and critique.

“We had middle schoolers, from sixth to eighth grade, and they came and they did a mock audition. It was basically how the audition process works here at Walnut, but it wasn’t actually real, it was just preparing them for the future if they want to try out for a high school Dance Team,” Halili said.

Although the Dance Team has hosted similar previous events such as “Junior Dance Day,” this year was the first year where a mock audition was implemented.

“It would have been really helpful for me as an eighth grader since it has the mock audition,” Dance Team president senior Kyrah Chien said. “I think it would have been helpful to know how auditions worked because I was really nervous my freshman year, as I had no idea about anything in the process.”

Some positive highlights from the day included meeting and interacting with younger dancers, parent performances and a bonding opportunity for the Dance Team.

“I really loved watching the younger kids perform. It’s heartwarming to see them perform for their parents because it’s clear to see how much fun they have dancing. The parents also really enjoyed filming their kids,” Chien said.

Takai hopes that the younger dancers left the camp feeling inspired and continue to stay passionate about dance. 

“I think for future years we’d love to get even more people to join us on ‘Train like a Mustang,’” Takai said. “It was so fun to watch the younger dancers because they worked so hard and looked like they were having fun doing it. It’s such a fulfilling experience for the girls currently on the team, and for us coaches, to be able to inspire the next generation of dancers.” Ω