Pumped by the cheering audience and roaring music in the distance, the dance team finished their hip-hop routine in their first dance competition of the season on Jan. 31 at the Homestead Forte Showcase.

Performing at Homestead High School, the girls competed in X-Small Dance (lyrical), Small Dance (jazz) and X-Small Hip-Hop categories. Senior captains Joy Tang and Madison Seagraves also performed lyrical solos. Out of 20 teams, the dance team placed first for their hip-hop performance and fourth in the jazz category.

“The team did so well,” coach Kaitlyn Landeza said. “I was able to witness the team’s hard work paying off and how excited they were to perform together. I am proud of how well they adapted to the [competition’s] atmosphere and with all the other schools.”

The seven girls began to learn their routines and prepare for this particular competition last August. For their lyrical piece, they danced to Emeli Sande’s “Read All About It,” which “sends a message of speaking up for what needs to be changed to make [your voices] heard,” Tang said.

The girls also performed their “fun and sassy” jazz routine to Britney Spears’s “(Drop Dead) Beautiful” and a hip-hop routine to a mix of songs by Missy Elliot, Danity Kane and Ariana Grande.

“The lyrical dance is full of emotion and able to tell a story through [the girls’] movements and expressions,” Landeza said. “While the jazz routine is fast and upbeat, hip-hop shows a little bit of everything. [The girls] are cute and girly in some parts, but when the music changes, they become intense and full of swag.”

While their performances were executed with confidence and ease, the girls encountered several obstacles throughout the competition. Not only did the team have to adapt to the different floor lines in the Homestead gym, but the music for their lyrical performance did not work as planned.

“Our music was glitching [at first] since the guy running the music forgot to plug the player into the speaker,” Tang said. “When he did, five seconds of the music had already passed, but we pulled it together at the end.”

Despite the minor problems they encountered, the team considers the competition a success.

“I’m really proud of all the girls and how far we’ve come as a team since the beginning of the season,” Tang said. “We’ve definitely had some tough times during practices, but all the hard work paid off.”

The girls’ next regional competition will be at Monte Vista High School in Danville on Feb. 14 before going to Anaheim for Nationals in March.