Dancers are doing it for themselves

Published 3:02 pm Thursday, October 2, 2008

SNOQUALMIE — Since the beginning of the school year, the

Mount Si High dance team has been relying on a handful of girls to administer

the discipline and direction needed to keep the team going.

But there’s only so much the leaders can do, they said, to encourage

the dancers to commit to the group and practice hard on their routines.

“You get to know someone so well that it gets difficult to discipline

them,” said Captain Kristen Sukut. “We

want to build a team and get input on what they want to see so that they will

work with us.”

Last year the dance team was under the direction of coach

Christine Kjenner, who is now helping with the cross country program. Kjenner

would lead the practices and teach the team the dance routines, Sukut said,

while the captains played a supporting role.

Now, the team is supervised by Kim Lighty who is more of an

advisor than a coach — scheduling events, handling the team’s finances and

helping the dancers perfect their routines.

The sudden transfer of power from an adult leader to a student-run

effort has caused some difficulties for the captains and dancers alike.

“After the coach left, commitment began falling and it’s hard to get it

back up,” said Co-Captain Janice Wintermyer. “It’s been hard for

everyone to adjust to the peers’ running practices.”

Junior Sarah Mauhl agrees that the group was more structured

when Coach Kjenner was in charge and admitted that this year’s team seems

unorganized.

“Sometimes it’s hard because they’re my friends and I don’t

like them telling me what to do, but I try,” she said.

“We’re afraid of criticizing,” Sukut responded. “Because we don’t

want them to take it like that.”

Despite the difficulties this year, the dancers said they still enjoy

the program and have worked hard to gain the respect of their classmates.

“When we get together and have a good practice and just hang out

it’s fun,” Mauhl said. “It’s fun to just

be with a bunch of girls.”

“We put a lot of time into this,” Wintermyer added. “We can’t up

and quit or else we won’t have a dance team.”

The girls are hopeful that the dance team will flourish in the future.

They anticipate that dancers from the middle school will bring a fresh

perspective to the team, and maybe next year the team will be used to taking orders

from the captains, Mauhl said.

School officials said it hasn’t been decided whether the dance team

will be led by a coach or advisor next year. But they are confident that the

team will be able to work through its difficulties and continue to produce

quality performances.

“They have done a nice job and I’m pleased with the work they put

in,” said Assistant Principal Elizabeth Ohlson. “They are clearly a

talented group and it takes hard work to do the things they’ve done.”

“I’m really proud of them,” Lighty added. “Their performances look

good and they’ve worked hard.”