By Catherine Grenon
Special to The Review
The Lake Orion High School Varsity Dance Team spent an exhausting four days at Oakland University in July at the Universal Dance Association (UDA) Dance Camp and Competition.
While they attend the camp each summer, this year they worked harder than ever and were able to dance away with the 1st place trophy in the Large Group category.
The team of 15 girls, with coaches Lindsay Sutter and Katherine McMillan, began practicing and choreographing in early summer in preparation for the competition which includes team as well as solo events. The girl’s days were spent meeting other dance teams from the metro area, including Rochester, Romeo, Anchor Bay and Clarkston High Schools.
In addition to the 1st place award, the team also received the ‘Super Spirit Award,? and the Leadership Award.
Dara Grenon and Katie Hadrian, captains for the 2009 – 2010 season, said that ‘the Leadership Award was especially meaningful because all of the other teams attending the camp from surrounding areas voted and chose LOHS as the team they would most like to be a part of if they were not already on a team.?
Six members of the team were also recognized and awarded for their solo dance efforts as ‘All American Dancers.? Cristi Fisher, Jessica Hadden, Katie Hadrian (Captain), Kaitlyn Hizelberger, Sarah Swietlik (Co-Captain) and Courtney Travis were invited to attend a camp for additional training in Rome by achieving this accomplishment!
Along with competing and performing at LOHS football and basketball games, they also offer dance clinics for all elementary, middle school and high school students who would like to give dance a try. All clinic participants will have the opportunity to perform in an evening LOHS Varsity Dance show to be held in the high school auditorium.
Look for the dance team members to help out at Culver’s on September 23 between 5 and 9 p.m. as one of their fund raisers. They are self-funded and work all year to raise money needed to keep the team going. Check the LOHS website for upcoming clinics, events and fundraisers.