“There’s only one team left, If it’s not us then we aren’t going,” senior Jaden Fanta whispered to her teammates as they sat huddled together, holding hands on the gym floor. Seconds later the intercom announced, “The next team headed to Bloomington is Downers Grove North,” cheers erupted as the Athenas embraced each other with hugs.
The IHSA Competitive Dance State Finals will be held at Illinois State University, Jan. 26-27. In order to qualify for the second day, teams will need to place twelfth or higher on the 26th. The competition consists of 30 teams from all over Illinois, who placed between first and sixth at their sectionals competition.
This is the second year in a row the Athenas have secured a state bid, however, the 2023-2024 season was hardly a breeze. The Athenas faced quite a few challenges and setbacks including multiple injuries.
‘’We have had a lot of ups and downs this season, but I am proud of how close we have gotten as a team. We all worked together to get to this point and have improved as a team and individually. I am so lucky to be a part of such a great atmosphere and a team with hard-working attitudes,” Fanta said.
The biggest obstacle the team faced was at their conference competition. Just moments before stepping out on the floor, sophomore Emma Aleksiunas slipped in her switch tilt during warm-ups and dislocated her toe. Without any time to reposition and adjust the dance, the Athena’s took the stage with a person missing. While the situation was less than ideal, the Athena’s placed the highest they had all season with an impressive fourth place.
“The Athenas were able to talk through the forms and respace the dance on just the walk in. It was very impressive how well they were able to perform given the circumstances,” Aleksiunas said.
The Athenas will be dancing to “Piece by Piece” by Kelly Clarkson at state. They have performed this song for all competitions this season. The Athenas have a total of 11 dancers on the floor, which is drastically smaller than most high schools in the 3A division. Each week, the team and their coaches change the dance based on the scores they received.
“This year we knew what we needed to do in order to get to state so we focused on making changes to the dance earlier and continued after every competition,” Aleksiunas.
The Athena’s goal is to reach the second day in Bloomington and soak in every minute on the state dance floor.
“I’m so excited I get to dance one last time with my best friends on the state stage,” Fanta said.
