Photos by Tamie Meck

Members of the Hotchkiss High School dance team perform the routine that earned second place at this year’s state Spirit competition. The team, along with the newly-formed Paonia dance team and fifth-and sixth-grade girls from Hotchkiss area schools, will perform this and other routines at the annual Home Town Show on March 16. The eight members of the team are Madison Milner, Isabel Silverstein, AnnaLee Dutton, Becca Pachl, Kursten Keeler, Aleksus Wilson, Mariah Hafley and Kelsey Spadafora. They are coached by Stephanie Neff.

Members of the Paonia High School dance team perform the finale of their routine, “Rock That Body,” at half-time of an Eagles basketball game. Paonia formed a dance team last November.

The eight-girl team will perform at the annual Home Show on March 16, in Hotchkiss High School gym. The perennial performance packs the stands. This year's theme, "Proud to be an American," is a special tribute to 9/11, said head coach Stephanie Neff. Spadafora and Mariah Hafley, co-captains and four-year team members, choreographed all the movements.

Their performance (which can be found on youtube) also earned them an invitation to dance at this year's state 3A girls basketball tournament on March 10 at Fort Collins. Proceeds from the Home Show will help pay for the trip.

Dance teams typically perform during half time of home football and boys basketball games. Regional and state competitions are held in November and December, and participants can letter.

With few 3A entries to the paid regional competition, which also comes from Home Show proceeds, Hotchkiss competes with 2A, 4A and 5A teams. They love the competition from the big schools, said Neff. The girls also benefit from seeing higher-level performances, which are often professionally choreographed. Neff said her girls have always choreographed their own routines and have been complimented at every state competition with inquiries about their choreographer.

While they enjoy choreographing and other aspects of spirit, for the dancers it's all about performance.

"When you nail it, and you know you nailed it, it's such a great feeling," said Hafley. "You know you did good."

Hotchkiss dance coach Stephanie Neff has coached the Hotchkiss High School dance team for seven years. In December, the team placed second in poms at state spirit competition.

Hafley and Spadafora both loved to dance, and Spadafora is a gymnast. So they decided to try out for the team their freshman year. Both are now hooked on dance. This year, they choreographed all the routines performed in the 9/11 show and at state. Choreography comes with experience and takes time, they said. The state routine took all summer to choreograph, and the team rehearsed for four months prior to state competition.

Three years ago, Neff started the Big Sister/Little Sister program. Open to area fifth- and sixth-grade girls, the program partners them with dance team members, who spend one evening a week together learning their moves and routines and getting to know each other. They complete the program with performances at the Home Show. Big Sister/Little Sister attracted a record 30 young dancers this year.

To introduce them to choreography, "I will probably give the little sisters eight or 16 counts to do what they want," said Neff.

One of Neff's former dancers, Michelle Sparks, returned home after college, where she also danced and choreographed, and is now the assistant coach. It's the first time Neff has had an assistant coach. "I'm so grateful to have her working with us," said Neff.

Dance caught on at Paonia High School, where cheerleading coach Candy Wuollet formed a team last November.

There was little support for cheerleading and only two girls on the squad. But there was a strong interest in dance, particularly from the basketball team, said Wuollet, who was in her fourth year of coaching the cheerleaders. "We decided to see if we could make it work and what we got out of it." More than 20 girls tried out, including several basketball players.

Members of the Hotchkiss dance team and fifth- and sixth-grade girls from Hotchkiss and Crawford practice a new dance routine through the team’s Big Sister/Little Sister program. The younger girls will perform at the March 16 Home Show.

It's time-consuming and hard to fit into school and other sports, said three-sport athlete Ce'rra Carsten, who manages to fit dance into her busy schedule that includes school, basketball and calving season. But it offers the benefit of working with girls she might otherwise not know, and that makes it worth the effort.

For senior Sarah Rushing, dance opened up opportunities. As a freshman, Rushing was planning on doing three sports, but has been sidelined with knee injuries since her freshman year. "It's nice, because it's really a bummer just sitting there and watching everyone do the sports I love," said Rushing, who now manages the girls basketball team. "Finally being able to be a part of something again is really nice."

Rushing said Wuollet and her teammates understand she can't do all the moves and encouraged her to join the team. While she strives always to do her very best, she is restricted. "And they're totally ok with that."

The team didn't form in time for 2011 state competition. Wuollet plans to have both performance competitive teams next year. The competitive team will be geared toward those not involved in another sport in order to avoid conflicts when it comes time to compete.

Wuollet had little prior dance experience, and contacted Neff for guidance. "She's beyond wonderful," said Wuollet. "She's the one who set me up and said this is what you need to do and this is how you do it."

She also turned to youtube for ideas and instruction, and started a Facebook page as a way to keep the team connected, since "Everyone is on Facebook."

Paonia's spirit season ended last week, and the Hotchkiss team invited them to perform at the Home Show. "We want to help support the Paonia program," said Neff.

The Hotchkiss girls gave their last half-time performance of the season at Saturday's game against Grand Valley. "It's kind of sad," said Spadafora as she and Hafley waited to perform. "We really didn't think of it until now."

Both seniors plan on attending college — Hafley at Colorado Mesa University and Spadafora at Colorado State or Grand Canyon university. Both plan to try out for the dance team.

Why? Because, said Spadafora, "Once you get out there and perform, there's nothing else like it."