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sports Panther Prowler • Oct. 18, 2019
NP Dance Team adapts to change Reese Kelem Staff Writer Newbury Park’s dance team rises to the stage for another year and as they train for competition, several coaching changes have been made. All three coaches, as well as about half of the dancers, are fresh to the team. Cameo Carolan has taught at Newbury for 12 years until she took a four year gap from the team, returning this year. “I’m excited to come back to it. During that gap, I really missed out on the relationships with the kids and the parents… so that’s what I’m most excited about is coming back to it, with experience, but kind of like a new breath of fresh air,” Carolan said. Many of the dancers even describe Carolan as the “mom” of the program. She has been focusing mostly on organization and communication with her team this year to keep her team relaxed and know whats happening. Emily Halpern, senior captain, believes that the return of Carolan has been really good for the team. “She knows a lot about how dance team works and what we need to do to win,” Halpern said. In addition to Carolan’s return, the dance team gained a new head coach this year, Mark Mundi. Mundi started dancing on the Newbury Park Dance Team before moving to L.A. and became a professional dancer and choreographer. He has now returned to the school to teach the new generation of dancers. He continues to professionally dance and choreograph in addition to his new position as head coach. Jane Saylors, sophomore, is one of the 11 new additions to the team out of 25 total dancers. Salyors has been doing studio dance for six years before joining the team. “It was a big transition from going to a studio but everyone is super welcoming and I love it,” Saylors said. As one of the older, more experienced members, Halpern serves as a role model to the new dancers. “Now we get to meet a bunch of new people and expand our family. It gives the old
5, 6, 7, 8- The NPHS Dance Team performs at halftime of the home game against Oaks Christian High School. “We worked all through the summer so that was a good opportunity to get to know everybody then. Once school starts we’ve kinda hit the floor running straight into football season,” said coach Cameo Carolan. On average, the girls spend 10 hours a week practicing for performances and competitions, all while getting to know each other better. Reese Kelem/Prowler
members more of a leadership role to show them how everything works out,” Halpern said. With the experienced dancers’ help, the 11 new dancers will learn how to dance the NP Dance team to victory. With many events ahead of them like competition season in June, the Winter Show, and Best Dance Crew, the dance team says they are very excited for the season.
Strike a pose- Becky DeRoy and Maya Galipeau, seniors, go piggyback at the end of their performance during the October 11th football game halftime. The dance team showcased the seniors in their performance that night as it was one of the last few games of the season. “Tonight’s overall performance went pretty good. Of course there’s always stuff to work on as we head into our (competition) season,” said Rachel Anderson, senior team captain. Next home game, the team is looking forward to dancing with Westlake High School’s dance team. Reese Kelem/Prowler
Dance- The dance team does their second to last halftime performance of the football season. This year, the team has been focusing on bonding with each other and fundraising for the program. One of the senior captains, Emily Halpern, said, “It’s really community oriented you get really close with the girls you’re on team with and you do a lot of fun stuff.” That night, the dance team incorporated junior-high students into their pre-game performance as well as the cheer team for the first time ever. Reese Kelem/ Prowler
