LCMR performs at mock competition featuring area high schools
OCEAN CITY — An event Jan. 11 at Ocean City High School was billed as the “First Annual South Jersey Dance Team Mock Competition,” meaning the organizers want it to be the first of many to increase the ranks of teams in the region and help them hone their performances.
Lower Cape May Regional High School dancers aspire to have one of those teams.
Alyssa Morrison, coach of the OCHS dance team, welcomed the audience that packed the main bleachers inside the Dixie Howell Gymnasium that Sunday. She explained the event was modeled after Universal Dance Association (UDA) competitions, even though the teams were not actually competing against one another Sunday.
She pointed out it was a crucial time in the season with the UDA Nationals in Orlando, Fla., just 18 days away.
The event was meant to give the dancers “valuable experience with the performance flow they’ll see on the big stage.”
Her team first went to nationals in 2023 after competing in only one UDA event and found it “quite the learning experience.” That made it a priority to get to more competitions in the weeks priors to nationals.
Her team, she said, was excited to have multiple high schools not only coming to Ocean City’s event, but also to nationals together.
Four of the schools — OCHS, Middle Township, Holy Spirit and Absegami — competed the previous weekend at the Battle of the Northeast in Oaks, Pa. They were all there that Sunday, as was LCMR with its own hopes to compete on bigger stages in the future.
Morrison hopes more high schools will add competitive dance teams to their athletic programs.
Kelly Kennedy has been teaching dance at LCMR for the past 15 years. The 18 dancers she brought to Ocean City for the mock competition are in her advanced dance class.
Kennedy has been meeting with the district’s athletic director, Matt Danze, hoping the high school can create an actual competitive team, maybe as early as next year.
In Kennedy’s advanced dance class, she teaches technique and choreography and her students perform at pep rallies at the school.
“We had such a great time,” she said of the mock competition at OCHS. “We loved it. I really enjoyed performing with the other schools and seeing the difference in what they have because they are going to nationals. It was a good learning experience for everybody.”
Kennedy said she would “absolutely” like to get a formal dance team going in the next school year, something she had discussed a few years before with administrators but that didn’t come to fruition.
An ultimate goal would not just be creating the team, but being able to go to competitions and to nationals, just as Middle Township, Absegami and Holy Spirit are doing for the first time at the end of the month.
“If this gets passed and we’re allowed to do it,” Kennedy said, referring to getting approval for a dance team, “we do the same things as other teams in the area, have a camp during the summer, use the school year to prepare and then we’d be going to nationals with everybody else.”
Kennedy said she has “danced my entire life and then I went to the University of the Arts in Philadelphia and received my bachelor of fine arts degree in dance.” In addition to teaching at LCMR, she is an instructor at the Joanne Reagan Dance Studios in Lower Township.
Morrison, the OCHS coach and dance teacher, said all the performances the audience was seeing at the mock competition had been in a state of evolution since being created months ago.
She said whenever the teams take the floor, they get valuable feedback from coaches, alumni, choreographers and judges, feedback that is used to “refine and adjust their routines” as they prep for nationals.
The competition provided that feedback from a trio of judges:
— Alanna Palombo, a 2022 St. Joseph’s University alum who captained the Division One dance team and now coaches dance
— Angelica Bua, a professional dancer, choreographer, coach and educator, now an assistant coach at St. Joseph’s
— Erin Pasko, an award-winning dancer, choreographer and educator who danced professionally under Clear Talent Group and now is head coach of the Stockton University dance team.
“While there are no awards or placements being given today,” Morrison said, “we are incredibly fortunate and grateful to have qualified evaluators with us who are providing the insight and guidance our teams need to continue perfecting their routines.
“Their expertise plays an important role in this process, and we truly appreciate the time and care they invest in our athletes.”
The five teams at the mock competition performed a total of 10 routines over 90 minutes in categories including large group jazz and small group hip-hop. The LCMR dancers performed two different routines.
“It was very scheduled out. It’s very strict timing-wise, but I think everybody had a great time and I think it was fabulous. I loved it,” Morrison said.
“South Jersey has such good dancers, and this whole UDA (Universal Dance Association) style helps them get ready for college teams, if that’s what they want,” Morrison explained. “There’s such amazing talent down here at all the different studios, but this style is very specific to dance teams.”
She added it was important for the camaraderie among the teams and to have a local venue where they can compete without traveling too far and having their support in one place.
Aggie Becker, a co-coach of the Holy Spirit team with Hillary Mejia, was glad her girls got the chance to be at the mock competition.
“It was really special because I went to Ocean City High School, so it was really unique to see the choreography where I went to school. And it’s fun; we need this practice,” she said.
“The Ocean City dance team did something incredible for these South Jersey teams. We’ve never had anything like this before, and we’re really trying to have a presence in the dance competition community,” Becker said.
By DAVID NAHAN/Cape May Star and Wave
