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the voice of the abingtons abingtonsuburban.com | sept. 15, 2016
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See highlights from Lackawanna Trail’s loss to Dunmore |PAGE 8
DAncE TEAm DEbuTs New addition to Comets football games by Caitlin West staFF WRiteR
Abington Heights High School has a few more students revving up the crowd on the football sidelines this year. Six students have formed the school’s new dance team, which performs with the marching band at home games in the Pit. “They are having a blast, they really are,” said Laura Sampogne, the team’s coach and choreographer. “And they are excited. They didn’t know how they would be perceived, and they didn’t know what to expect.” The dance team formed after Sampogne and her daughter, Nina, saw Penn State’s dance team perform at a football game. A saxophone player, Nina had been unsure about joining Abington Heights’ marching band in high school, and her mom then suggested that they start a dance team. She reached out to band director Eric Boylan and athletic director Randy Hanyon and eventually gained school approval to form the team. The dance team was open to anyone without tryouts and ended up with five freshmen and one sophomore. A few upper-classmen had
wanted to participate but were unable to because of their work schedules, said Sampogne, who hopes to grow the group to 20 members next year. “They’ve been thanking me for this opportunity and to know that they wouldn’t be cut,” she said. “They weren’t afraid to come out. Some girls … wouldn’t be on those sidelines [otherwise and] would never experience the excitement that is the Pit on a Saturday afternoon. I never forget. My son played [football] for years there, and it’s just so amazing. And I wanted them to experience it.” The group works closely with the band and dances along to the music it plays in the stands as well as during the band’s field show, which features such ’80s hits as “867-5309/Jenny,” “Beat It” and “Glory Days.” They even perform with the band front for some songs, Sampogne said. Sampogne, a former cheerleading coach for Abington Heights, said she wanted to keep the team’s dances from looking like cheerleading or drill team choreography. They don’t do cheers, instead focusing on jazz-style dance moves. The girls came with all levels of dancing ability, so Sampogne aimed to make the choreography simple but interesting. “That was my most important task at hand, was to make sure they were all in
From left: Trinity Benardi, Sarah Piniero, Destiny Kneiss, Nina Sampogne, Michaelene Kulig and Abby Schrader.
sync,” Sampgone said. “They’ve all been really good. I’m really proud of them.” She previews the moves for the team, too, so she can get their feedback. “We have some really cool moves in there, and the girls are liking it,” Sampogne said. After the team showed off its routines, it was asked to perform at the away games, too, but they’re just sticking with the home ones for now. That, however, gives Sampogne’s daughter and one of the other dancers a chance to perform as instrumentalists with the band during the away games. The community’s support has “just been great” as well, Sampogne said. Nickie’s Fabulous Hoagies in Clarks Summit is buying the dancers’ rain jackets this year
after seeing them perform, she said, and the parents “have been wonderful.” Sampogne said the dance team feels honored to perform with the marching band, which has been so supportive of the girls. Sampogne bought the girls bracelets with a charm that said “dancer” and told them that she didn’t want them to look at that and think, “Oh, I’m a dancer.” Rather, she wanted them to realize that they came out and did something they might have been afraid to do, and they started a new team that could triple in size next year and keep growing with each season. “Maybe they didn’t have a lot of friends. Maybe they were afraid to be in front of crowds,” Sampogne said. “Look at the bracelet and look at that charm, and always remember that you had that confidence.”
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