Last Friday, September 17th, 2022, both Dakotas Varsity and JV dance team held a dance clinic. It was for younger girls that are members of Chippewa Valley, or just in the surrounding community to get an opportunity to learn a dance with the older girls and perform at the football game under the lights. The younger girls got to experience what the Dance Team was like and get a feel for how it would be if they become a Dakota Dancer when they get older. It helped them learn new skills and meet new people. This clinic helps the Dakota Dance girls raise money for their funds. 

Mrs. Kwolek is the head dance coach for the varsity dance team. She says the experience on the field was “chaotic in a good way.” She says that all the kids are “enjoying the great atmosphere that Dakota football brings.” The kids get the opportunity to sit on the sideline super close to all the football players and watch the older dancers perform their sideline routines. Mrs. Kwolek says that all the kids behave very well. The dance Clinic gives the younger kids an opportunity to make new friends and perform with them on the field. Mrs. Kwolek sets up this clinic to give the younger dancers an amazing experience and help raise money for Dakota’s dance team.

Both Varsity and JV helped in making this clinic work. Varsity captains helped design a shirt for the dance based on the student section theme. As the coach, Mrs. Kwolek picked out coordinating bows and poms. The Varsity girls take over the creation of the dance. They separate into three groups, bigs, middles, and littles. Each group creates different tiered cerography for the appropriate age groups. Then they all work together to make the beginning and end of the dance. The Varsity team then teaches the dance to the JV team. JV helps assist with technique and helps teach the younger girls and keep them in line. Both teams perform with the clinic girls on the field.  

Bianka Cukarkov is a Junior on Dakota’s Varsity Dance Team and helped during the dance clinic. She went to practice from 5:30-7:30 on Monday and Thursday for the clinic. Bianka says their schedule was packed for the small amount of time they had. They started with warmups, then worked on technique and taught sections of the dance, at the end of practice they played duck duck goose so the younger girls could bond. Bianka says that she “really enjoyed this clinic and had lots of fun dancing with the younger girls. It was a wonderful experience to be a part of, it was fun to create dances for the younger girls and be a teacher for the week.”

Overall, the dance clinic was a great success. It was a cool experience for the girls on Dakota’s dance teams, and the younger girls who got to be part of it for the week. All the girls put in lots of hard work to make this happen. The dance on Friday night was incredibly fun to watch and experience.