Courtesy of Nicole Ruocchio

Coach Ruocchio has over 22 years of dance experience, most recently as captain of the Bay Area Panthers dance team.

Nicole Ruocchio, who spent eight years on dance teams for San Jose State and the Bay Area Panthers indoor football team, stepped into the role of the school’s dance team coach in July. The previous coach, Toni Strout, resigned in March. 

Besides her deep experience as a dancer, Coach Ruocchio has prior experience in coaching younger children in private studios. She said she applied to coach the dance team to utilize her experience in a different way.

“I’ve taught dance to young kids for a long time, but you can’t help them with their technique at that age,” Ruocchio said. “So, I wanted to be able to actually share my knowledge of dance with an older group that I could help mold into the best dancers they can be, using my experience to push them and help them grow.”

Ruocchio’s overall plan for the team’s first season is to create a premier dance team within the high school community that many people will enjoy watching, whether that be during the halftime of football games or during competitions. 

There are numerous well-known teams in the sphere of high school dance, such as Presentation and Lincoln Convertibles. Ruocchio wants Saratoga to become a team that is admired in the same way.

“I want them to be able to go to a competition and for people to say, ‘Oh, Saratoga is performing. We have to go watch that.’ That’s kind of what my ultimate dream is for the team,” Ruocchio said.

Ruocchio also has a full-time job at a child care center, so her main difficulty with coaching is balancing her two jobs. Despite the challenge, she’s very happy with her coaching experience thus far.

The team welcomed two new freshmen and a junior this year for a total of 13 dancers. While freshmen are usually in need of additional care, this year’s new members are very technically skilled and pick up choreography fast, good additions that bring up the team’s capabilities.

“I wanted to join the dance team because I love dance and wanted to be involved in school as much as possible. I remember coming to football games to watch my brother play and seeing the team perform during half time,” freshman Ashlyn Hoang said.

The team usually holds auditions in April and begins training in June but did not start this year until Rucchio joined in mid June. Having started practicing later in the season, the team has been more pressed for time than in previous seasons. Most members of the team, those who didn’t have schedule conflicts, launched into the Universal Dance Association summer camp, which is an annual dance camp the team participates in, from July 28-31. 

Ruocchio has been pushing the team to learn and practice at a fast pace, quite different from experiences in years past.

“I think that we’ve been doing really great. Everyone has been working really hard and impressing me,” Ruocchio said. “I come from a [professional] dance background, so I’m pushing the team to certain standards of speed of learning and execution that I would have on a professional team.”

Members of the team say they can feel the difference from prior coaches, noting productivity as a noticeable improvement.

“Previously, we would go through three eight-counts in one day when it comes to cleaning dances. Now we’re learning two dances in one day and also being much more productive in cleaning,” senior captain May Gendeh said. “I think because she’s a professional dancer, she knows how strapped time can be.”

Coach Ruocchio’s connection with dancers in the professional world has also opened doors to new choreography opportunities and master classes, a new addition for this season. More exposure to different professional dancers will allow the dancers to further develop their craft in specific styles.

The team had their first football game halftime performance on Aug. 30, executing a full-team jazz routine and small group mix routine, which combines jazz, pom and hip hop styles. The performance received praise from students and staff members attending the game, and Ruocchio and the dancers were proud to show what the SHS dance team was capable of.

“I think it’s going to be a really good year. I want to make this team a place where people want to be a part of an inclusive environment that is also successful,” Ruocchio said.