Shirina Cao

The dance team sells homemade baked goods at their bake sale at the Sept. 5 home football game against El Camino to fundraise for competition and costume costs.

After welcoming a new assistant coach, the 14-member dance team kicked off their pre-season on Aug. 3 with fresh energy and a focus on technical growth in their dance.

The new assistant coach, Lara Jean Mummert, is working alongside head coach Toni Strout and focusing on the dancers’ muscle work and technique, which entails drilling proper turns and correcting form. Mummert is holding a 2-hour technique class for the girls every Wednesday, in hopes of effectively improving each dancer’s skill level.

Mummert double majored in physical therapy and dance at the Purchase Conservatory of Dance in New York. Her combined expertise in both is reflected in her dance training philosophy, where she believes in warming up and strengthening core muscles thoroughly before doing oversplits or backbends to avoid injury.  

Mummert has challenged dancers to step outside their comfort zones with more conditioning and the introduction of  newer skills. One notable skill involves blocks: To enhance balance, she trains dancers to stand on these foam boxes, while practicing dance techniques such as relevé on the block.

After just one Aug. 14 session with Mummert, dancers, such as junior officer Camille Cordova, were already excited for upcoming rigorous practices in the studio. 

“She really works us to our limits,” Cordova said. “She pushed us really hard, even in just one day. Honestly, it had me sore for weeks.”

On the other hand, Strout’s background as an elementary school teacher shines through her methodical and thorough teaching style, as she incorporates classroom-like lessons and inspirational talks to keep the team motivated. 

For her second year as coach, Strout implemented new goals to foster enjoyment and alleviate stress for the dancers.

“I want to utilize workshops that I took over the summer to incorporate more team bonding this year, and I want to utilize all five of the officers and delegate jobs for all of them,” Strout said.

The team also has new student leadership this year, as juniors transition into officer positions. The group consists of seniors Anisa Taymuree and Saejel Thomas and juniors Cordova, May Gendeh and Shirina Cao. 

All five have embraced their new responsibilities, aiming to create a cohesive team through team dinners and a push toward achieving excellence in  their tricks and difficult skills during practices.

According to Gendeh, the transition from a regular team member to an officer can be difficult, because dancers have to look out for others as well as themselves. To lighten the load on the upperclassmen, Coach Strout is working on balancing responsibilities between the five officers, usually assigning different officers for different tasks.

As part of her new officer duties, Cordova hopes to create a more stern and less sugar-coated leadership style, hoping it will help improve dancers’ technique and confidence. 

With the new season, the team welcomed four freshmen: Audrey Lenh, Kayla Li, Mira Jishnu and Yena Kim. Lenh, who participated in studio dance at East West Music and Dance for the past five years, said studio dance focuses more on the dancer’s technique, while the school’s dance team focuses more on performance quality, such as clean movements and exaggerated facial expressions. 

“Being with the older girls and working together is my favorite part. I’ve gotten to know them better through the team, compared to a typical studio setting,” Lenh said. “I really enjoy the dance team as a way to continue dancing throughout high school.”