Dancing is not easy to begin with, and then combine that with doing it in front of hundreds of people, and you’ve got the average day as an Aspen High School dance team member. The members of the AHS dance team took their talent to the next level with a fifth place finish at the dance competition at the Denver Coliseum on December 6-7.

The stakes were high this year, especially because Aspen’s own dance team competed in the poms division for the very first time. A pom squad differs from a regular dance squad in that it uses pom-poms in all its dance routines, whereas a regular dance squad may or may not incorporate pom-poms in their routine. Although this was a challenge, senior Claire Wittingham is very happy about her team’s performance and outcome.

“Competing is so fun! It is by far one of my favorite parts of the year. It’s so fun to watch the other dancers because they have so much talent and potential,” Wittingham said. “This year was our first year competing in the poms division which is against 3A, 2A, and 1A schools, while we previously competed in the dance division which is all 4A and 5A schools. This was crazy hard because the competition was on such a higher level.”

The team has said it themselves; this is the best the AHS dance team has ever been. Although some fantastic dancers have come and gone, junior Graciela Roberson is a proud believer in the outstanding quality of this year’s team.

“This year, the team has improved so much. Not only are we more of a family than we ever have been before, but we have many more technical dancers on the team, which improved our overall quality immensely,” Robertson said.

Although dancing isn’t your average sport, dancers have just as much, if not more, passion, drive, and love for their team as any other athlete.

“One of my favorite parts about the team is that I get to do what I love, which is dancing, while being associated with my school. It is amazing to be able to proudly wear red and black knowing I am representing them in a positive way. I also love all of the girls on dance team,” Wittingham said. “We all get along so well and we were all one little family. I wouldn’t trade them for anything.”