Former national champion dance team in high demand

By NATALIE MARSHALL

Special to Leader-Press

When you are the former national champions, the invitations to perform pour in. The Copperas Cove High School award-winning Copperettes dance line works diligently to make as many public performances as possible.

From invitations to perform at Special Olympics to Library Rally Day to the Rabbit Fest, Copperettes Director Samantha Selby has to sometimes make some tough choices, understanding that her team cannot be everywhere and that academics always come first. A new event at which the Copperettes chose to perform was the Central Texas Wellness Fair.

“I saw the event as a positive experience for the girls to give back to the community,” she said.

The wellness fair is offered for the college’s student body, staff and guests to receive health screenings, find information and products on wide variety of resources available in our community. Hundreds of guests attended and were able to watch the Copperettes exhibit their talent.

The team works hard during their practices six days a week, both during their scheduled class time and for ninety minutes every day after school. They also practice every Saturday and the event gave the performers positive exposure and another chance to show off their award- winning routine. The team has performed at three regional events and at state where they earned awards at each competition. High School senior and team captain, Shania Reynolds’ favorite event each year is the fall season as she loves performing on the football field to see all the faces in the crowd.

“Any high school student interested in dance, should sign up for the classes at the high school,” Reynolds said, emphatically. “They help you before try out season.”

CCHS Junior Dawn Polite serves as one of the lieutenants for the team and enjoys the Spring Show because the school staff and students she interacts every day with have the opportunity to see their team’s performance. Rebecca Roche, another junior serving as a lieutenant, agreed.

“Our competition awards are the payoff for all the practice we do,” said Roche, who most enjoys the competition season as does CCHS junior Lauren Castaneda who also serves as a lieutenant.

“I really enjoy everything we do,” she said. “Our transformation is from field to competitive season to the Spring Show, our last hurrah that ends our season,”

The Spring Show will be held in the Lea Ledger Auditorium on May 6 and May 7, both starting at 7:30 p.m.