The Mark Keppel Dance Company attended their first competition of the season on January 25 at San Marcos High School. At the competition, the dance team displayed their jazz, a contemporary form of dance and poms, an energized performance consisting of sharp movements. 

Athena Woo is an 11th grader who performed a solo contemporary performance. When asked about how she handles the pressures that come with a solo performance, Woo gives herself a “self talk,” reviewing everything she needs to do for the performance. “[My favorite thing about competitions is finishing all] my dances and seeing all the other talented dancers. [When] I am watching dances while I am still competing, it makes me a bit nervous if those people are going to be competing against me in the same category.”

Christina Liu, a 12th grader and captain of the Dance Team at Mark Keppel, expressed, “Our competition season is very different from previous years. We’re traveling to Florida for Nationals and competing at the national level a month before we usually would. It’s a new experience but has pushed us to work harder and more efficiently. Being able to travel together has brought our team so much closer and I’m excited to see how it’ll continue to foster a stronger team as we continue our competition season.”

“I didn’t expect my first competition to go by so fast and for it to be really tiring. Right when we got there, we had to get ready right away and by the time I knew it, the routines were done. I did expect that things were going to be a little hectic since it was my first competition and that I was going to be intimidated by other teams, but it was such a fun and memorable first competition.” says Kayli Loi, a sophomore on the Mark Keppel Dance Team.

With this excellent start to the season, we can only hope for good things to come to the Company. The team is looking forward to taking on Florida for nationals.