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2 0 2 2 G H S A S TAT E D A N C E C H A M P I O N S H I P School
SESSION 1 - 8:30 AM Style
Stephens County East Jackson Stilwell School of the Arts Murray County Gilmer County King’s Ridge North Murray Lakeview FT. Oglethorpe Vidalia Ringgold Cairo Thomasville McDonough Upson-Lee Kipp Atlanta Collegiate Greater Atlanta Christian
High Kick High Kick Pom Hip Hop Hip Hop Pom Hip Hop Hip Hop Pom Hip Hop Hip Hop High Kick Hip Hop Jazz Hip Hop Jazz
North Oconee Model East Jackson Murray County Savannah Christian Preparatory North Murray West Laurens Kings Ridge Heritage Stephens County Stilwell School of the Arts Gilmer County Model Ringgold Lakeview Fort Oglethorpe Thomasville Greater Atlanta Christian North Oconee
Division
3A-4A 3A-4A A-2A 3A-4A 3A-4A A-2A 3A-4A 3A-4A A-2A 3A-4A 3A-4A A-2A 3A-4A 3A-4A A-2A 3A-4A
INTERMISSION Jazz Hip Hop Jazz Jazz Hip Hop Jazz Pom Hip Hop Pom Pom Jazz Pom Jazz Pom Pom Jazz Pom Pom
3A-4A A-2A 3A-4A 3A-4A A-2A 3A-4A 3A-4A A-2A 3A-4A 3A-4A A-2A 3A-4A A-2A 3A-4A 3A-4A A-2A 3A-4A 3A-4A
AWARDS
School
Campbell Tri Cities Camden County Lee County Denmark Starr’s Mill Etowah Blessed Trinity South Forsyth
SESSION 2 - 12:30 PM Style Pom Jazz Pom Jazz Pom Jazz Pom Jazz Pom
Division 7A 5A-6A 7A 5A-6A 7A 5A-6A 7A 5A-6A 7A
School
McIntosh Forsyth Central Buford Mill Creek Lakeside, Evans North Forsyth Northside, Warner Robins North Gwinnett Woodland Peachtree Ridge Westlake Lambert Richmond Hill West Forsyth Allatoona Forsyth Central Whitewater Etowah Mill Creek Lee County North Gwinnett Buford Mountain View Carrollton Hillgrove Starr’s Mill Collins Hill McIntosh South Forsyth Northside, Warner Robins Peachtree Ridge Creekside Roswell Dutchtown Parkview Blessed Trinity Denmark Allatoona West Forsyth Richmond Hill Campbell Carrollton Brookwood Westlake Lambert Woodland Mountain View
202 2 GHS A SP ONSOR S
Style
Jazz Pom Jazz Pom Jazz Pom Jazz Pom High Kick Jazz High Kick Jazz High Kick Jazz High Kick Jazz Pom Jazz
INTERMISSION Jazz Pom Jazz Pom Jazz Pom Hip Hop Pom Hip Hop Pom Hip Hop Pom Hip Hop Hip Hop Hip Hop Hip Hop Hip Hop Hip Hop Hip Hop Hip Hop Hip Hop Hip Hop Hip Hop Hip Hop Hip Hop Hip Hop Hip Hop Hip Hop Hip Hop
AWARDS IN MAIN BALLROOM
Division 5A-6A 7A 5A-6A 7A 5A-6A 7A 5A-6A 7A 5A-6A 7A 5A-6A 7A 6A-7A 7A 5A-6A 7A 5A-6A 7A 7A 5A-6A 7A 5A-6A 7A 5A-6A 7A 5A-6A 7A 5A-6A 7A 5A-6A 7A 5A-6A 7A 5A-6A 7A 5A-6A 7A 5A-6A 7A 5A-6A 7A 5A-6A 7A 5A-6A 7A 5A-6A 7A
DANCE PRE VIE W
COLUMBUS WELCOMES FOURTH-ANNUAL GHSA DANCE CHAMPIONSHIP
T
BY CRAIG SAGER II | CSAGER@SCOREATL .COM
he fourth-annual GHSA Dance State Invitational will be held this Saturday at the Columbus Convention and Trade Center. When the sport was first added during the 2018-19 season, there were more than 50 different dance teams that competed in three separate divisions. Each coed or all-girl teams performed popular genres such as Jazz, High Kick, Hip Hop and Pom. Mill Creek earned top finishes with their Pom and Jazz routines and took the Class 6A-7A crown. McIntosh earned the highest score of the weekend with its 94.50 Pom routine and took the overall 4A-5A crown. As for Class A-3A, Washington High School grabbed the title with its Hip Hop routine that racked up a division-best 77.88 score.
Class 5A-6A crown and West Laurens (3A-4A) and Thomasville (A-2A) also earned top finishes. Mill Creek placed first in Jazz and Pom and South Forsyth had the highest Hip Hop score to fuel its second-place finish.
The field went from three to four separate divisions ahead of the 2019-20 State Invitational, with Class 7A getting its own division and 5A-6A, 3A-4A and A-2A represented in their new two-classification groups. Mill Creek defended its crown with a top overall finish that was bolstered by strong performances in the Jazz and Pom genres—the latter of which was the top overall routine in Class 7A (92.30). Etowah finished runner-up to the Hawks in Jazz and South Forsyth’s Hip Hop routine earned a top finish. Starr’s Mill captured the Class 5A-6A title after coming up short to McIntosh in the inaugural Invitational. The Panthers posted a near-flawless 97.15 mark for their Jazz routine and also posted a top finish in the Pom genre. Dutchtown’s Hip Hop routine earned a top finish and McIntosh added to the competiveness with its 95.78 Pom performance. Heritage-Catoosa’s victory in Class 3A-4A earned the Generals their first-ever Dance state title this past year. Heritage’s 91.28 Pom routine was the highest overall score in the Class 3A-4A field. Stephens County earned a top finish in the High Kick genre, Blessed Trinity finished first in the Jazz department and Ringgold’s Hip Hop routine earned a top finish.
The McIntosh Invitational this past weekend offered a preview of what to watch for this weekend. Mill Creek earned the top overall score in Class 5A-7A and posted top finishes in Pom and Jazz—for the second-straight year, and Heritage-Catoosa placed first overall in the Class 2A-4A Pom. Fayette County showcased its prowess by crowding the Class 5A podium with a trio of member schools. Starr’s Mill took first, McIntosh took second and Whitewater placed third in the Pom. Denmark High School celebrated a third-place finish in the 7A Pom division, and Creekside’s Competitive Dance Team secured its second-straight invite to State with a thirdplace finish at the ultra-competitive McIntosh Invitational.
At last year’s championships, Mill Creek won its thirdstraight Class 7A title, Starr’s Mill won its second-straight
This year’s action will be broken up into two separate sessions. Session 1 will showcase the Class A-2A and 3A-4A fields—starting at 8:30 a.m. and culminating with the official awards ceremony. The Class 5A-6A and Class 7A finals will begin Session 2 at 12:30 p.m. and the awards are expected to occur shortly after the final routine.
The bright future of Dance as a GHSA sanctioned activity is already apparent following the first three successful years of competition and Year 4 can only be expected to continue raising the bar. Each routine will be judged on the following seven criteria—with 100 being the highest possible score. Choreography, Musicality, Difficulty/Transitions, Technique, Synchronization and Staging/Spacing are all valued out of a possible 15 points. The final criteria is Showmanship/ Overall Visual Effect and this score is judged out of a possible 10 points to reach the cumulative possible score of 100.