Rosemary Cabanban (10) stood on stage at the United Spirit Association’s (USA) Dance Nationals in the Anaheim convention center, March 22-23, balancing on one foot and staring into the eyes of the judging panel.  As part of her solo’s choreography, the dancer needed to make eye contact with the audience and judges at various points, as the contemporary solo was attempting to evoke the emotion of fear and anxiety. 

“I just really love the acting part of the dance,” Cabanban said. “My favorite compliment is when people are like, ‘I was so scared. You gave me goosebumps, like what was coming for you?’ Those are my favorites because I know I did it right.”

Cabanban’s solo was one of three pieces that Westview Dance Troupe took to the finals of the competition, the other two being Medium Pom, and a solo by Sophia Sands (10). 

Cabanban’s contemporary performance won third place in the Super Dancer division. According to Cabanban, the style of the performance could best be described as abstract. 

“It’s very unique,” she said, “It’s really unlike any other dance I’ve done in my dancing career, because it doesn’t seem very musical.”

The track which accompanied Cabanban’s solo was characterized by a droning beat and a narrator who spoke more than sang. This choreography was made in August by Alex Blitstein, who has choreographed a number of Cabanban’s solos since she was  in fourth grade. 

“There’s a part where the narrator says ‘they’re not coming for you’ and I have to sprint across the stage as fast as I can,” Cabanban said. “It’s weird. But it’s been a lot of fun having a weird solo because I’m not really gonna get a lot of opportunities to do dances like that again.” 

To advance in the competition, dancers performed pieces that they had worked on throughout the season and showcased them in the convention center on one of two stages: a main stage in a domed, arena-like room, and a smaller, raised, stage in a nearby hall. 

This small stage was where Sands performed her solo for the qualifying round of the competition. As she made it past this round, and went to finals, she then performed in the arena and won fourth in the Solo Champion division. When she took the stage for her solo, Sands said she felt nervous for the upcoming piece.

“I wanted to represent Westview in the best way possible,” she said. “But, once I took the floor, I felt the support from my team, and the excitement kicked in. I knew they would be cheering me on no matter what.”

Sands danced to the song “A Million Years Ago” by Adele, and said that her lyrical solo was meant to be somber, and convey a feeling of reminiscence. 

In comparison, the Troupe’s pom dance was very energetic and had many sharp movements, according to  Coral Kangas (11). 

“Compared to other pieces, there’s a lot more strength and resistance you have to put into [poms],” she said. “You really have to be sharp with your arms. With lyrical, there’s more floatiness [and] a lot more breath, but with pom, you have to hit each count on the dot. There’s no late timing. There’s no mess-ups.”

In rehearsals, Kangas said the Troupe could tell how on-time they were by the synchronized sound of their poms. 

“If everyone hits the same count at the same time, there’s a kind of swish that the pom makes,” Kangas said. “So, you can hear when you hit it because everyone is all together.”

Kangas said the beginning of the routine, which involved a sequence of turns and spins, was one of the most difficult parts. 

“There’s a turn section that we were all working really hard to get together, so we were all a little nervous for that one,” Kangas said. “We have been working on it all year. I think the nerves kind of got to us, but at the end of the day, we did well, and we got to finals.”

Assistant coach Bridget Bachman, who helped lead the dancers on the second day of competition, said that she was proud of the dancers in the pom routine, as well as the soloists, for making it so far in the competition.

“I was also really excited to see the medium pom routine make it into finals for the championship division,”  Bachman said. “I was proud to see them take the floor again, especially with a routine that included almost all of the competitive team.”

At nationals, the team spent any moment they could practicing. 

“[Practice was] all over the place because we just found time whenever we could,” Kangas said. “We practiced after dancing on Friday, which was exhausting, and then Saturday, we competed first thing in the morning.” 

Kangas said that the last-minute practice right before pom finals, late on Saturday, was extremely stressful. 

“That practice right before going on the second time was really nerve-wracking because we all just wanted [to do well] so badly,” Kangas said. “I’m just really happy that we’ve been to finals, we can say we’ve been to finals, and we have that experience so we know what to expect for next year.”

Sands said that the support of her team strengthened the group and was what allowed them to do as well as they did. 

“We did really well, as a group,” Sands said. “We really bonded a lot throughout the weekend, and we pushed through all of our dances, worked hard on them, and put out things we were proud of.”