COVID is not going to stop the Grayslake Central dance team. During the 20-21 season, the dance team was able to be in person. Although the girls experienced some setbacks, the dancers had to learn how to keep each other safe, follow guidelines and maintain a positive attitude. Junior varsity coach Francesca Bevente said, “The girls have done a really nice job being patient when those situations do arise, and just you know, powering through and having the best attitude possible.”

The girls had a successful season increasing their scores along the way and perfecting their skills in the dance room. Dancers had the opportunity to work together in person to focus on the skills essential to winning. Conditioning and stretching were at the forefront as well as working on flexibility and stamina. “The biggest challenge we had to face this year was reworking our formations and routine to account for times when not everyone was able to compete. Having to make changes so frequently was definitely an added stress, but I’m very proud of how resilient and willing to make changes everyone was,” says varsity dancer Grace Verciglio.

Filming videos for competitions is now a thing of the past. Competitions allow girls to showcase their routines filled with challenging skills while competing with schools in the area. This past season, dancers competed throughout the Northwest suburbs. Girls attended invitationals at Mundelein, Lake Zurich, and the NLCC Conference at Lakes. “Biggest thing was being able to attend competitions in person this year. That was really nice last year. So it was very exciting that we got to attend every single competition that we were registered for and do so in person,” Bevente said.

Another exciting component for this season was that Grayslake Central hosted an invitational at the school on January 16th. Coach Bevente said, “The girls really enjoyed helping out with that. They were really proud to host and everything ran really smoothly. So it was a highlight for sure in a good way to kind of wind down competition season since it was one of our last.” Although the dance season ended January 22nd at sectionals, with the state competition on January 29th, the team is looking forward to next season in growing as a team and working on the skills to bring them to the next level.