On Feb. 20 and 21the Thousand Oaks Dance Team had their first live competition of the season. The Dance Team previously had solo dancers competing virtually, and now competing live, they perform their solos plus some of their team dances.

The Dance Team competed at an outdoors studio provided by Aspire Dance Studio in Westlake Village. The competition they went to was West Coast Elite Dance (WCE). They provided the judges and a nice dance floor instead of dancing on concrete. 

The competition was a two day event, but each school got an hour to perform their routines and then left so there was no cross contamination. Because of the one hour rule, the dances were back to back instead of being spread out like a normal competition.

Because of COVID-19 guidelines, there were no spectators allowed so the competition was live streamed with the app Twitch. The awards were also live streamed to reduce people crowded together on the stage floor. 

The dancers were required to wear masks while performing onstage. Because having a regular mask would block their facial expressions and their performance, they wore clear masks so they can get the performance score they desire. 

“Performing with masks on was definitely a set back at first but we were lucky enough that our coach found clear masks so you could see our facial expressions!” said senior Michaela Martinez

For freshman Elsie Maravilla this was a whole new experience. Competing for the first time as a freshman with a new team and during these new circumstances. 

“Performing live was a bit scary at first since it was my first time competing but once I started dancing all I was thinking about was the dance and everything else kinda just went away,” said Maravilla. 

The Dance Team had a total of 3 group dances plus soloists. The dances they performed were medium hip hop, medium contemporary, and small jazz. In the following weeks they plan to add more dances to their roster which would be character and prop. 

For medium hip hop, they came in first place. For medium contemporary, they came in fourth place. In small jazz, they came in second place. 

“It was really good to perform in front of judges and actual people again because I could feel the energy from my teammates and coaches,” said junior Whitney Lauritzen.

The Dance Team has more competitions at West Coast Elite following nationals. “I’m just glad we can perform live again,” said Martinez.

Photo courtesy of the TOHS Dance Department Instagram