The Bravettes competed in the UDA Central Florida Dance Championship at Walt Disney World’s Wide World of Sports last weekend, bringing home a first place trophy for their pom routine.
This is the first time in six years that the Bravettes have won first place at a competition.
“I am thrilled to finally bring home a title after years of working towards this,”coach Jamie Bortner said. “This is my eighth year coaching and the team’s sixth year competing. They have worked for years to build their abilities as dancers and it is wonderful to see their hard work rewarded.”
The team learned the routine in an eight hour intensive practice in November with choreographer Dana Parson. They added additional practices in December to drill the routine, adding conditioning to work on stamina and endurance.
The team debuted the performance Jan. 12 at a boys basketball game. The girls had to perform the routine three times in a row during one practice to work on endurance. The pom routine incorporated different levels, groups, leaps, turns and a kickline.
“Pom [was my favorite routine], it definitely showed how much we’ve worked with our strength,” junior Abigail Ruback said.
The routine showcased a theme of strength with a mashup of songs including “Stronger” by Kelly Clarkson and “Harder Better Faster Stronger” by Daft Punk.
“The songs were about strength, throughout the year we have pushed for stronger arms, stronger facials, stronger movements,” Ruback said.
The team will compete at the American All Star Competition located in Epcot in February.
“We are watching the videos to pinpoint areas that need work and drilling them so we can improve,” Ruback said.