Dance and Cheer Diff erences

Loud and proud

Student section is led in energy, excitement by the cheer squad, dance team

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“My favorite part about cheer is that when they run around with the ags,” junior Benjamin Miller said.

Madelyn Garber garbemad000@hsestudents.org

On Friday nights, the dance team and cheer squad pump-up the that go with the dance team’s performances. “I think [the dancers] bring a Fishers High School varsity football team during their home games. e dancers and cheerleaders have the responsibility of upli ing the crowd and continuing to stay positive and hopeful for another win in the Tigers’ record. ere were many students in the stands, including junior Wangechi Mwangi, who spoke of the dance teams. “[ e dance team] hypes everyone up at hal ime,” said Mwangi. “Especially when we are losing, [the dance team] gets everyone excited again.” e cheer team is more structured and brings the energy level up by cheering loudly and getting the audience to participate in the fun, interactive activities that include clapping, cheering phrases, stomping and arm/hand gestures. Principal Jason Urban talks about how pleased he is with the student section’s participation. “I’m really proud to see our entire school community and school spirit on display every Friday night,” Urban said. While the two organizations value getting the crowd hyped up, they do so in di erent ways. e dance team is responsible for one fraction of the hal ime, in which they perform a fast-moving, hiphop/pop dance routine. Junior and varsity football player Brady Wolf also saw the di erence in energy from before hal ime to a er it. is may be due to the popular song choices lot of energy and get the stands back on their feet,” said Wolf. “[ e audience] then gets us excited to get back on the eld.” Meanwhile, the cheer squad is responsible for leading and maintaining the energy that the crowd feels and radiates. is happens by leading chants, throwing merchandise into the crowd, tumbling and smiling throughout the majority of the game. “Cheer is more crowd leading and takes more leadership skills,” junior cheerleader Jenna Gehlbach said. Cheerleaders also found themselves to be important to the game because of their involvement with the crowd and their ability to feed o of students’ energy, as said by Gehlbach and junior Madi Young, who is on the cheerleading squad with Gehlbach. e cheerleaders are always trying to get everyone involved with the chants, while the dancers are solely there to bring the energy up following the rst half. However, it is agreed that both groups are equally successful at keeping the vibes of the game high and happy. “[ e dancers] are so good,” Mwangi said. “I love the dance team so much. ey have such great style and the songs they pick are just so modern.” e dance team is also seen as an activity to appeal to the students that do not have the

The dance team performs their hip-hop dance routine to a remixed version of “Low” by Flo Rida, The dance team performs their hip-hop dance routine to a remixed version of “Low” by Flo Rida, on Friday, Sept. 2 during hal ime. This was their second performance of the season. Photo by Photo by Madelyn Garber.

desire to be involved in the other options that are available for participating in football games. Junior Bella Weir, a regular football game attendee, supports this claim. “I think that the addition of the dance team is good for the people that want to be involved and out on the eld, but don’t have an interest in football, band, color guard or cheer,” said Weir. Overall, the dance team and cheerleading squad are two groups of people that are hyping up the crowds in di erent ways. Ultimately, the school’s spirit and energy is controlled by these two groups, and this brings much pride to most of the student body. “I think that both activities/ teams are bene cial because I feel like they make a football game, a football game,” Weir stated. “I think that they are [important] to have for the students who are interested in them.”

“My favorite part about cheer and the dance team, is their energy and e ort given,” junior Vince Dieu said.

1. Sophomore Sloan Ferguson cheers for the football team as the players move towards the end-zone on Friday, Sept. 2, during their game against Noblesville High School. Photo by Madelyn Garber. 2. Freshman Chloe Begley dances in a pop style routine to the song “Butter” by BTS. Photo by Kailey Santiago

Photo by 2. Freshman Chloe Begley dances in a pop . Photo by Kailey

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