Foothill High varsity dance team steps its way to success
Familiarity breeds success for members of the Foothill High School varsity dance team. The squad made an impressive showing during the Silver State Spirit 2007 championships Feb. 24 at Silverado High School.
The competition featured cheer and dance teams divided into four divisions based on a school's student enrollment.
The Foothill High School varsity team won the 4A division championship in hip-hop and repeated as the jazz state champions.
The 13-member dance team, coached by Lana Freberg, features eight seniors who began dancing together while at Burkholder Middle School.
"Our girls have been dancing together since seventh grade," said senior Kimi Seta. "We have been together for so long we know about competition and we know how to dance well together."
Kimi added that the squad "has a lot of input" into the choreography used in the routines. For its hip-hop routine, the team worked with a professional choreographer. It also got help from a former teammate for its jazz routine, which was performed to "You Can't Stop the Beat" from the musical "Hairspray."
The other 4A Southern Nevada winners were Spring Valley High School in coed show cheer; Cimarron-Memorial High School in coed partner stunt; Las Vegas High School in all-girls stunt; and Shadow Ridge High School in pom.
The cheer and dance squads of Faith Lutheran Junior-Senior High School won four state championships in division 3A: show cheer small, all-girls stunt, pom and hip-hop.
Other 3A division champions are: Boulder City High School, show cheer large; Pahrump Valley, coed show cheer; and Moapa Valley High School, jazz.
The Meadows School cheer and dance teams are the 2A champions in three categories: show cheer small, jazz and hip-hop. And, the Mountain View Christian cheer team is the 1A champion in show cheer large and all girls stunt.
In other youth news:
* Kate Ohene, a junior at Bishop Gorman High School, competed in the Nevada finals of the "Poetry Out Loud: National Recitation Program" on March 24. Fourteen finalists competed, including two others from Southern Nevada: sophomore Jaitee Pitts of Pahrump Valley High School and senior Michael David Gloeckner of Lincoln County High School. Jake Reid of Douglas County High School in Minden won the event and will compete in the national finals in Washington, D.C.
* About 70 young people with the Las Vegas Youth Volunteers put together quilt squares and quilts on Saturday for Southern Nevada National and Global Youth Service Day. The Las Vegas Youth Volunteers, a program of the Volunteer Center of Southern Nevada, donated the quilts to Hands On Zimbabwe.
* A teen conference hosted by Whitney Recreation Center, 5712 E. Missouri Ave., will be offered at 5 p.m. Thursday. The conference for students and parents will feature workshops and discussions with representatives from colleges and trade schools. For more information, call 455-7576.
* The performing arts department at Bishop Gorman High School will present its spring musical "The Mystery of Edwin Drood" at 7 p.m. Wednesday through Friday, and 2 and 7 p.m. Saturday at the Clark County Library, 1401 E. Flamino Road. Tickets are $9-$12 (732-1945, Ext. 367).
If you know of a worthy candidate for this column, mail information to Youth Spotlight, Las Vegas Review-Journal, P.O. Box 70, Las Vegas, NV 89125-0070, or send faxes to 383-4676.
