The 11 girls on the dance team are learning a simple lesson in the first few weeks of the school year: Expect the unexpected.

For one thing, there was confusion about whether the team would be able to perform the first rally. Later that same day, they ran into technical difficulties with their music during the first football game.

Three days before the rally, the team was told that they would not be able to perform at the rally because there was not enough time, despite their dance being less than 2 minutes long, a decision shocked members of the team and returning coach Kaitlyn Landeza.

The confusion continued when rally committee confirmed the rumors upon further questioning by the dance captains. However, Landeza said that activities director Matt Torrens changed his mind and gave the OK for the team to perform.

The team faced another challenge on the night of the football game. The girls waited on the field in their starting formations for the music to begin; however, due to technical difficulties, the team’s music did not work, so they performed to the sound of the cheer team counting and the crowd cheering.

Landeza said that she is proud of the team for doing so well under the circumstances, and that it is the most stressful kind of scenario for a coach.

“I only have to worry about one thing, to press play,” Landeza said. “When that doesn’t work, everything goes wrong.”

Although the first few weeks of the dance season have been stressful, the challenges that the girls have faced have only made the team more determined to work hard.

“The year is just beginning, and the team is already stronger than it ever has been,” Landeza said.

Info for the sidebar:

Returning dancers: sophomore Chloe Peng, sophomore Alexandra Li, senior Caroline Li, senior Chih-Hsuan Hsu, sophomore Lidya Demissie

New dancers: sophomore Amy Tang, sophomore Francesca Chu, junior Caitlyn Chen, freshman Kaitlyn Thompson, freshman Gillian Koerber, freshman Nicole Wong