the pommies

mies Blue Blood senior Jillian Ray said.

Keeping good morale is essential to handle the mental and physical challenges, especially for competitions.

“The team is self-motivated and always excited for competitions,” Pabon said.

Summit North Regional competition in both their Mix and Lyrical Jazz routines. Mix routines are a melting pot of dance styles: pom pon, jazz, ballet, etc. Lyrical jazz is a style of dance that combines ballet and jazz, typically in a slower, more melancholy tone. Dancers said it was a big deal to perform a lyrical jazz routine, as they have not competed in lyrical jazz competitions in almost a decade.

“We were all kind of nervous about doing it again, and then we came to this competition and won it,” Jastrzembski said.

“I’m extremely competitive, so it’s really easy for me to stay motivated because I like winning,” senior Morgane Jastrzembski said.

The Pommies recently placed first in their division at the Lee’s

It takes a lot of practice to be able to perform at a First Place level, many of the dancers have been dancing since they were young and attend dance studios in the off season. These dancers are so polished that they often make their routines look effortless. That’s what it takes to win first.

“Getting a team of 14 people to do the exact same thing for two minutes straight with the amount of skill that’s put into it, they make it look easy,” Pabon said.