Dance lookin’ fresh…man

Usually with the dance team comes a huge mix of all of the different grades here at RHS. This year however there is not, with the majority of the dance team being Juniors and Seniors. One Freshman however broke all odds and made the dance team joining all of the previous dancers from last year.

Freshman Gabi Pagel has been dancing for about eleven years and this year, she turned out to be the only freshman who became a part of the RHS dance team.

“Being the only freshman on the dance team is great, everyone on the team is super sweet and nice and welcoming and they’re always there for you when you need them,” Pagel said. “The dancing is so fun, I have a great time.”

Pagel believes that having older students on the dance team could be a beneficial experience for her. The benefit of having more experienced dancers on the team is that she can learn all sorts of different techniques for dancing or just different life lessons from the different experiences that they have had in life.

“They can correct me, they can teach me things, they’re like a whole group of older sisters to me, they’re all super educational, like I learn things from them, whether it be from dance or just being a good person they’re all super great role models for me,” Pagel said.

With the usual amount of people who try out being a lot, Pagel did not think that of all people that she would be able to make the team. Her dancing overall must have been one of the best because out of all of the people at the tryout, she is the one that made the dance team.

“I thought it was kind of crazy because there were just so many people that tried out and I was very shocked when I made it,” Pagel said. “Because the style that the dance team does is not usually one I would do but I’m having a great time learning it and doing it as well.”

At the beginning of the year, Pagel got her first experience performing at a high school level. The first performance of the year has always been an exciting experience for not only the members of the dance team, but for the incoming freshman as well as it is their first high school performance that they see.

“It’s really fun performing at rallies and games, being with the team and it’s amazing seeing all the school spirit that comes from all that stuff,” Pagel said.

Senior Elena Esparza hopes that the team can continue to help Pagel improve her dance skills for her future in the program. Being one of the better dance team in the area, having someone on the team whos main dance style is not what they usually do can end up very poorly. Thankfully for Pagel she has so many different people from the program that she can learn and improve from.

“We are like a very high skilled team, so coming in as a freshman and this all being new to her we’ve had to teach her a couple things but a lot of things we do is very much self taught,” Esparza said.

Esparza does not only enjoy Pagel’s presence on the team, but the pizazz that she brings with her. Having someone new on the team is always exciting, but having someone that is able to bring the whole team together because of they way that they act is amazing. Pagels major emotions of joy and happiness when she dances brings the team up mentally and everyone enjoys the emotion.

“I love her, she’s super sweet and she brings a really happy energy to the team,” Esparza said. “Since a lot of us have been on the team before, not like its repetitive but we just don’t see it through fresh eyes, we don’t see the team and all the experiences through fresh eyes, so it’s been really cool to have her on the team and see how happy she’s been, so I really like having her on the team.”

Having Pagel on the team, with the joy she brings, makes her older teammates like Esparza enjoy her presence. With Pagel on the team, she has been excited for every little thing that they have done this year and it does not matter if it has to do with a rally or a football game it does not matter, she enjoys it.

“It’s been really cool to have her on the team, like see how happy she’s been, I really like having her on the team,” Esparza said.

Pagel plans to continue doing dance throughout high school and believes that being in the program will be a great experience. Doing something all four years of high school is always a great experience for anyone because of all of the different types of people you get to work with and all of the new experiences that you get to have.

“I would love to do dance team all four years of high school, it’ll be super fun,” Pagel said.

Esparza enjoys having Pagel on the team but believes she learns quickly for her freshman year. With a majority of the people on the dance team having been there for a couple of years, Pagel definitely has a lot to learn before she is very confident on the dance floor.

“I think it’s very cool, it’s definitely probably really hard for her because a lot of us have been on the team for a while but she’s really hanging in there, she’s doing super good,” Esparza said.

The dance team having to adapt to multiple new teammates every year has been difficult for them. Esparza believes that only having a pair of new teammates this year makes it less difficult.

“Every year we have to adapt with new teammates and with only having two new team mates this year, the rest of the team have been on the team,” Esparza said. “So we’ve had to teach those new people how things work and things like that but it hasn’t really been a struggle because we’re all super open to having new teammates and we love them.”