Region Preview 2011

We held our annual Region Preview on January 18, 2012. It is a big night for the team to perform all of their competition routines a week before our Region Competition. We invite a lot of the local dance studios to come perform as well. So, it is a fundraiser for us too!

We had a long program, because all of the studios wanted to perform at least three numbers this year. There were also a couple new studios and so it was a long night--but a good one! I felt it was a great success for our team!

Jeff Pocorro came and took some action shots of the team. I got all of these photos from his website. I'm so grateful-- he has taken some amazing shots of the team this year.

First, I have the team perform the BDT Camp Dance. Here are some pics from it:

Party Rock - the 2011 BDT Camp Dance
Then, I introduce each member of the team and give them a flower.Kimber

AubreyNeishaBryn, Madeline, and Lindsey

I didn't post pics of everyone from the intros--sorry! But here are some pics from each of our routines:

Hip hop - "Outta Your Mind"

Military - "Salvation"

I felt they really performed military well that night. They hit the headstands and everything looked really sharp!Dance - "Tigerlily"

I struggled with this costume this year - we kept adding to it to make it more "visible" on the floor. I think I learned a lesson - don't use gold or orange again--unless I have a darker, more bold color to go along with it!Lyrical - "Turning Tables"Character - "Samba Adagio"

Our character routine was an African/tribal theme. We had an "abstract" jungle made out of the cubes that we covered with greenery to look like vines. Then we had drums too. I loved the colors that we used. I knew our theme wasn't that unique and there were actually quite a few "tribal" character routines this year. Including Bountiful, the reining state champs! But, their tribal routine went above and beyond--they were on stilts! It was an amazing routine to watch! So good! Wow is all I could say! But, we did our best and really worked on our "character" of our routine.

We changed the way we did our hair and makeup for the performance that night. So, it took a little longer to get ready. I liked the changes though! I don't know why it took me 3 invitational competitions to figure out that I didn't like their hair and that the makeup needed to be something more dramatic! Oh well, I guess that is why you go to invitationals to get feedback and to make changes!

We invited Juab to come perform with us again. They did good too. Every time my aunt Lisa, Juab's coach, would come sit down by me to give me her music, I thought, what is that minty smell. Well, I finally asked her and she let me in on the secret. So now we had a "secret weapon" for Region and State. I have to admit at first, I didn't know if I thought it would work, but it did. I really felt it made a difference in some of the girls.

So, another Region Preview night was finished! A big success and it was fun to have "Elleve Alumni" there to support us! I even invited them down to do the traditional drill down at the end of the performances with us. It was fun--I'm sure I will make that a tradition too!

Salt Lake Valley Classic & Murray Classic Drill Team Competitions

The Elleves competed in two more invitational drill team competitions in January. First, on January 6 & 7 we competed in the Salt Lake Valley Classic competition at Juan Diego High School.

This year, I actually had someone competing in the solo competition. Shalee is the very first Elleve to compete in a solo competition!

Shalee Hiskey - a junior member of my team. Here she is in her solo costume. Her routine is to the song, Pop, Drop and Roll. She did awesome and won 1st place in the 4A Jazz division!

Me, Laney, Makayla, Shalee, Hailey, Madeline, and Jamie.

I drove a suburban up to watch Shalee compete and the girls pictured above came up with me. We had to load the character props before we left and then I got a little lost on the way to Juan Diego, but we were still going to be there in pretty good time. But, I guess they were running way ahead and things were somewhat disorganized? Anyway, Shalee's mom texted us and said Shalee is on next we we were pulling into the parking lot of the school. I stopped the suburban at the door and had the girls run in so at least they would get to see the whole thing! I quickly parked and ran in, but I just barely missed seeing her perform! Oh well, as least her team mates were able to see her dance!

Shalee - doing a move from her solo.

The next day, bright and early, the whole team came up for the team competition. It went pretty good. Bountiful was there and so was Hillcrest, two top competitors in the 4A division this year. We ended up taking 2nd in Hip Hop, 2nd in Lyrical, 2nd in Military, 3rd in Dance, and 2nd in Character.

The team with the trophies.

We also had three girls place in the drill down. Neisha Martinez won 1st place, Aubrey Finch won 2nd place, and Laney Melton won 3rd place! Awesome!

One week later, on January 14th, we competed in the Murray Classic Competition at Murray High School. We had another great day--this time we ended up being 1st in Hip Hop, 2nd in Lyrical, 3rd in Military, 3rd in Dance, 4th in Character. But, we won two other trophies. One for Exceptional Technique. This one was decided on by the judges. We also won this award last year, so I felt good about receiving it again for the second year in a row! Then, we also won the Sportsmanship award! This was voted on by all the teams. The girls felt very honored to have received this award--it meant a lot to them!

The team with the trophies.

Drill down winners again - Aubrey Finch, 1st place, Melissa Durtschi, 2nd place, Makayla Wilson, 4th place, and Kaitlynn Blood, 5th place! Elleves rock at drill down!

The seniors at their last invitational competition of the year!

Well, the invitationals are over. Now all that is left is Region and State.

Amanda's Social Dance Performance

On January 11, 2012, we went to watch Amanda perform with her social dance class in their "Parent's Night". It was a fun program and I enjoyed watching another school's social dance parent's night. Just to see how another school does it and what they have the students wear, etc.

Amanda performed in two numbers. She did great! I also noticed in a couple of the other numbers that there was a girl that looked familiar. So, I looked at the names of the dancers in the number. I saw that there was a Jennifer. That's when I knew who it was, so I texted my sister Amy and asked her what Jackson's friend "Jenny's" last name was. It was the same last name--so I was right. Jackson's friend Jenny was dancing in the show as well. We saw her afterwards and said hello.

Here are a couple pics we took afterwards:

Me, Kendrick, and AmandaAmanda, Kendrick, and Scott

It was a fun performance and I'm glad we were able to go watch it. Hopefully Amanda will take some more social dance classes and we can go watch her again!

Kendrick's First Visit to the Dentist

On January 6, 2012, Kendrick had his first dentist appointment. I had to teach school, of course, so Scott got to take Kendrick to the dentist. Our pediatrician suggested Dr. Sorensen in Spanish Fork, so that is who we made the appointment with.

Since I couldn't be there, I asked Scott to take some pictures so I could see how it went and to also "put it on the blog"!

In this first picture, Kendrick is running around the waiting room. In the background, you can see video games for older kids to play with while waiting.
The office is decorated with a cowboy theme. The dentist calls himself "Doc Sorensen". There was a movie going too for kids to watch while waiting.

Kendrick checking out the waiting room.

Scott holding Kendrick as they try to get an x-ray. But Kendrick wouldn't hold the film in his mouth!

Kendrick waits to see the dentist. He is playing with a over size toothbrush.

Kendrick getting his teeth cleaned--he still has the over sized toothbrush and the moose "hand puppet" with false teeth that he can "brush".

The assistant showing Kendrick the moose's teeth and trying to get Kendrick to brush the moose's teeth.

Scott said Kendrick was a typical 1 year old at the dentist. Kendrick was more interested in investigating everything that was around him. Kendrick did get a clean bill of health and the dentist gave him a coupon for a free ice cream cone at Sonic.