Kearney Golden Girls dance just like sisters
KEARNEY, Mo. — Kearney High School’s dance team, the Golden Girls, will compete on Feb. 19 at Dance Team Union Nationals in Orlando, Florida. They previously competed at the DTU Regional competition held at Lee’s Summit West High School on December 18th. This will be the team’s first time competing at the national level!
The Golden Girls are a hard-working group of talented young women that put in a lot of hours of practice. It is a yearlong effort. Tryouts occur in April, with training commencing in May and going through final competitions in late February.
The Golden Girls are led by head coach Samantha Anderson, in her third year with the team, her first as the head coach. “I am very proud of the team this year,” says Anderson. “It is not easy having a new head coach take over and everyone has adjusted. They work hard. This year we wanted to get them exposed to competition on a national level,” and the team has stepped up!
Anderson previously coached for seven years at Liberty North. In high school, she danced for the Liberty Sapphires. She then went on to dance for William Jewell College’s nationally ranked competitive dance team. Anderson credits Cassie Pruessner of Studio 10 in Liberty, as a lifelong mentor in dance and someone that has given her good advice over the years.
As far as keys for success in dance, Anderson says one of the most important things is attitude, and another, “…is a dancer’s foundation, their technique that stems from ballet. It gives a dancer the best foundation. You can always tell a dancer who has a solid background in ballet. Everything else builds from that,” says Anderson.
The background and foundation of dance for the members of the Golden Girls is solid. Many of them have been training at dance schools, like Studio 320 Dance in Kearney, from the earliest days in their youth. They have all sharpened their skills over many years and learned how to be good teammates along the way.
For Ava Yarc, Senior, and four-year member of the team, dance lessons started at age 5. Now she is in her thirteenth year of dance. She learned jazz, tap, ballet, contemporary and lyrical at Studio 320.
“I have been dancing with some of the girls on the team since I was four years old,” says Yarc. “Being on the Golden Girls has taught me to put my teammates first. You have to work together to make it happen. You can’t just do things on your own. You have to rely on others.” Yarc’s favorite subject in school is math, and her goal is to continue her education at the University of Iowa and be a member of the dance team there.
Senior Madison Pennington is also a lifelong dancer, starting at age 7. She is interested in physical therapy and plans to attend the University of Missouri next year. She is going to tryout for the dance team there in April. Being of a member of the Golden Girls, “has taught me to work hard and have dedication because we spend a lot of time after school, when we are all tired and we all just love being there, working hard to be able to do our thing, “says Pennington. She has also learned how to deal with adversity. “Eyes up, feet moving, and the rest will follow. You have to keep dancing through mistakes. Keep pushing through them,” says Pennington.
“Being a team is important. You have to keep every other girl in your mind at all times,” says Junior Madelyn Duncan, who is in her third year on the Golden Girls. Dancing since age 4, Madelyn’s favorite style of dance is contemporary, and she loves doing pom with the team. Duncan likes studying history and is interested in someday working in the medical field. “You have to focus on being a team outside of just the dancing part. It is about getting to know each other and getting close. It is important to be a family as well as a team,” says Duncan.
Sophomore, Sophia Frank, started dance at age 2 and studied at Priscilla and Dana’s School of Dance as well as Studio 320. She likes jazz, contemporary and loves competing in pom for the Golden Girls.
Freshman Avery Aller says; “the tryouts for the team were awesome and exciting! All the seniors were supportive and made me feel comfortable.” She credits the team with teaching her to believe in herself and have confidence.
Rachel Cerra, assistant coach for the Golden Girls, grew up in dance from age 3. She was introduced to dance through a program put together by the Des Moines city ballet.
“We try really hard to help the girls build confidence. They are an insanely talented group of young ladies. We try to bring their best performance out in them through encouragement,” says Cerra. “Seeing them laugh and bond is my favorite thing. It is like you are a proud parent when you see that they are loving on each other and taking care of each other. Watching the girls develop is remarkable—they all start in one place in August and by the time we get to the end of the season, the changes with the girls are incredible! It is so wonderful to see how they grow. To see that hard work, pay off.”
“Coach Rachel has been a huge asset to this program. She has been amazing, as far as helping, being a sounding board and having the experience. Rachel works hard and the team respects her,” says Anderson.
The teams’ practice schedule increases in days and hours as they move into the competition season. It can be quite grueling. Hard work is expected, and hard work is carried out. But as coach Anderson says, “You can’t underwork other teams and expect to outperform them.” For Madelyn Duncan, you “just try to take every opportunity to keep cleaning up performances and keep pushing and try to hammer out everything we can for competitions.”
A motto for the team is: champions adjust. “When something goes wrong, that’s life—things are going to happen,” says coach Anderson. “The floor may be slick, but it will be slick for all the other teams as well. Champions adjust. If you want to be the best and win you must adjust because not everything is going to go your way. Teaching this team resiliency is key.”
For Anderson, the biggest life lesson from coaching and dance is that “you have to learn to push yourself as hard as you can, but also give yourself grace. Dance is just a completely different sport from most others – you only get two minutes to perform, and you must be perfect in those two minutes. It is a lot of pressure. You must learn to balance knowing that no one is perfect, but still strive for perfection and be proud of yourself no matter what happens.”
Coach Anderson is proud of the team and the relationships they have established. “These girls are so unique. They are so fun! They are funny! They each just all bring a completely different personality to the team. I love that I am able to share something that I am passionate about with these girls—and we enjoy it together.”
“The biggest thing for me is dance takes so much time and energy and dedication, and it can often get overlooked, because we are on the sidelines at games. We smile and wear pretty uniforms—and people might not understand these girls spend two hours a day at team practice and spend nights and weekends at their studio. They are constantly training. I want people to look at the Golden Girls and know this is a group of athletes that respect each other, respect their sport, respect other sports, and have them be recognized as a solid group with great character and dedication. These girls have grown up together. They have all known each other for a long time. They are like sisters.”
The Golden Girls are Freshmen: Avery Aller, Grace Daily, and Arie Watkins. Sophomores: Sophia Frank, Kennedy Slaughter, and Aubrey Taylor. Juniors: Sophia Brown, Madelyn Duncan, Chloe Farris, Eden Irsik, Lilly Liberty, and Carly Watkins. Seniors: Kya Curtis, Jessa Baldwin, Haile Bell, Madison Pennington, and Ava Yarc. Head Coach: Samantha Anderson and Assistant Coach Rachel Cerra.
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