BHS Dance Team Wins 5th Consecutive State Title

The (BHS) Dance Team is victorious, once again. On March 3, the team competed in the CIAC State Championships and brought home a first place title for the fifth consecutive year under the direction of Coaches Linda Davies and Deanne Petriccione.

“We were so excited and shocked. It is always such an incredible experience to win with your team,” senior captain Lauren Beardsley said.

The team, made up of 17 girls, competed against 10 other teams in the Hip-Hop category and nine others in Jazz. They also took home the second place title for their Jazz dance. Countless hours are put into their competition dances, choreographed by former Knicks City Dancer Kristin DeCesare.

The Bobcat dancers had been to two other competitions this season and although they had danced well, had not won in either of the two categories they were competing in.

While their jazz number placed well at both competitions the hip hop routine this season did not seem to playing well to the judges prior to states. With both Coach Davies and Petrocconi tweaking the routines here and there after each competition the girls were ready and energized by the state tournament that they have dominated over the last four seasons. The girls seemed flawless in both routines, with each bringing standing ovations from the standing room only capacity crowd at Hamden High School.

“We are a great team because when things don’t look good, we work through it,” Davies said. “This is a special group of girls. No one works harder than they do.”

The BHS Dance Team is a two-season sport, performing at both football and basketball games, along with their competitions. The team is lead by senior captains Beardsley and Marissa Nadeau, as well as junior captains Kristina Hancock and Madelaine Volpe.

“We are such a hard working, close team, and being so close makes us perform even better,” Nadeau said. “When we practice we are so focused and motivated and are always pushing to be better.”

Along with their success at competitions, the Dance Team has also achieved academic excellence with one of the highest average GPAs for all BHS teams. This year, they had the privilege of performing at Stew Leonard’s birthday party, the Brookfield Chamber of Commerce Dinner and in “‘Tis the Season” holiday show to benefit Ann’s Place.

“They are extremely dedicated to dance and each other,” said coach Petriccione. “We have the best group of girls and the support we have received from their parents, the school, and our community is outstanding and we are truly grateful.”

Seniors Beardsley, Nadeau and Moriah Freitag all agreed, “This has been one of the most amazing experiences throughout high school, and we will miss this team so much.”