The Simpson College dance team had their first performance of the season this past Saturday at halftime of the home football game against Luther. The team is focused on preparing for their upcoming competition season.

Senior dance team member, Sadie Green, said that the team is heavily preparing for upcoming competitions by practicing their dance routines and performing them at the football games.

“We learned all three of our competition routines for the season so we can have them down and then after football season is when we start drilling them and getting them going,” Green said.

She explained how they prepared during their camp week before classes started, where they learned their competition routine, pom routine and sideline routines for football games.

The team aims to build on their successful season last year, where they earned many notable awards, including bronze at the 2022 Collegiate Cheer and the Dance Championship in Daytona, Fla.

The team had the opportunity to participate in the National Dance Alliance camp, where they qualified for the national competition in April. Green also explained how they learned a couple of routines through the camp that they will perform at football games.

Practices take place three times a week, occurring on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, lasting two to three hours.

“Usually, during practice, we run whatever the most recent thing is, so right now, it’s our first football game,” Green said. 

She explained how some practices are focused on technique so that it is easier to clean up the routines.

“It’s a lot easier to clean when we all have the moves rather than trying to get the moves and then clean them,” she said.

First-year team member, Natalie Marr, says that she was very excited to join the team because it has been a great way to meet new people and the girls on the team have been very inclusive.

Marr noted that the main focus in practice has been cleaning up their pom, jazz and hip-hop competition routines.

With homecoming approaching next weekend, the dance team has been preparing for the festivities by learning the routines they will be performing during halftime of football games and at Yell Like Hell.

“We have five routines that we’ve learned so far, and now we’re working on homecoming, so that will be six,” Marr said.

The team is very ambitious about their upcoming competitions and has put in a lot of hard work both together and individually to continue their success from last year. 

“We’ve been working really hard so far, and we just have a lot of people who have been pushing really hard, and we just have a lot of skills and assets in different areas, so I think we will do really well,” Marr said.

The state competition will be the first of the year for the team and will take place on Nov. 30 at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.