Warrior Pride and SunDancers Compete at Austin Classic

Sarah Wang, Heritage Photo Editor| February 16, 2020

  • Josie Herrin ’21 looks towards the ceiling during the Officer Contemporary routine.

    Haereen Lee
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  • Ashley Zhang ’20 poses after the split contagion in the SunDancer Exhibition piece. The routine included the drill team’s iconic line kicks.

    Haereen Lee
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  • Laney Popps ’21 grooves along to the music. The SunDancer Exhibition was the last piece performed before the Parade of Solo Champions began.

    Haereen Lee
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  • Seniors Sarah Wang and Emily Lu split the stage during their duo spotlight. Along with their trophies, the SunDancers ended the night with Outstanding Choreography and Technique banners.

    Haereen Lee
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  • Emma Carrier ’20 poses at the beginning of the SunDancer Exhibition. The choreography highlighted each grade level throughout, giving each class a chance to shine.

    Haereen Lee
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  • Lily Sayre ’21 lifts off of Claudia Indriago ’21 in their self choreographed duet. The duo made homemade costumes using paint and glitter and used the same concept for their makeup.

    Haereen Lee
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  • Thessa Greebe ’23 glances at the judges as she slowly descends to the ground. Their duet was choreographed by Warrior Pride member April Gao ’20.

    Haereen Lee
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  • Freshmen Thessa Greebe and Nikki Frazier shock the audience with their pose. Their performance won 1st place for Junior Duets, making them the only Warrior Pride duet to win a trophy.

    Haereen Lee
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  • Sarah Wang ’20 laughs at the end of the lyrical piece. The SunDancers came together to a line and hyped the audience up.

    Haereen Lee
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  • The SunDancer officers work together to lift Ashley Zhang ’20.

    Haereen Lee
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  • Michelle Davis ’20 hits her ending position at the end of the Hype performance. The team dressed in red, black, and white in their own unique style.

    Haereen Lee
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  • Ella Loper ’20 extends her arms in the Officer Contemporary piece. The SunDancer officers were awarded Outstanding First Place Officers from the Austin Classic judges.

    Haereen Lee
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For the annual dance competition, the SunDancers partnered with MA Dance Competition to host the first Austin Classic (AC) on Saturday, Feb. 8. Schools from the surrounding Austin area pooled to Westwood to compete their various group dances, duets, solos, ensembles, and officer pieces. The event began with the first solo and 8 a.m. and lasted until when awards were announced around 10 p.m..

“This was a very emotional day for me because this was my last dance competition with Warrior Pride,” Haereen Lee ‘20 said. “We’ve worked so hard on our pieces so it’s amazing to see how far we’ve progressed since we first learned the choreographies.”

This year, the SunDancers competed their pieces from jazz company, J-Co, their hip-hop company, Hype, several solos and duets, as well as all of their officer dances. Additionally, Warrior Pride competed in their Team Hip-hop dance and their Team Contemporary in the Junior Varsity Team dances category.

“My favorite part about AC was hanging out with all my friends and dancing,” Emma Carrier ‘20 said,”and I had a really fun time doing our hip-hop dance for Hype because we really did our best and it looked really really good.”

Along with competing, the SunDancers also spent the day volunteering at various stands. Concessions were sold and merchandise were advertised by the dancers and students from organizations such as the National Honor Society (NHS) and Pacesetters also offered their help during the event. Additionally, after competing and running the competition all day, both the SunDancers and Warrior Pride rejoiced after receiving several awards and honors.

“Getting grand champions for our officer pieces was super incredible for us,” Senior Lieutenant Brooke Weatherbie ‘20 said. “This year’s line officers are really really hard working and all of our unique styles are very compatible and all the hard work that we put into it really paid off.”

The full list of awards for both teams can be found below.

Warrior Pride :
1st Place in Team Hip-hop in the Junior Varsity Team Category
2nd Place in Team Contemporary in the Junior Varsity Team Category
Earned the superior award for receiving a score above 250/300 for all dances
1st Place Junior Duets – Thessa Greebe ‘23 and Nikki Frazier ‘23

SunDancers:
1st Place Officers in all three routines in the Large Division Category
1st Place Officers Overall in the Large Division Category
Officers Top Overall Award: Scoring 2nd Place for the entire Contest!
Officers also received a super sweepstakes, choreography, and technique awards for all three routines
1st Place Large Ensemble – Jazz Company
3rd Place Duet – Ashley Zhang ‘20 and Gabby Hoover ‘20