By Ryan Ingold

The Batavia Dance Team is headed to the IHSA state competition, and will hit the floor Jan. 31. The Bulldogs earned their state bid with a fifth-place finish at the Geneva sectional this past Saturday, Jan. 25. They will compete in the 2A division which consists of 30 teams.

According to team captain Alexis Moore, “Deerfield, Geneva, and Lake Zurich” are all very strong opponents. 

In fact, Lake Zurich was crowned 2A champions in 2018 and 2019. When asked if there is a difference between preparing for a normal competition compared to the state competition, Moore said that there was. 

“The difference is that we really focus on perfecting everything we do,” Moore said. “In dance, the little things are huge so making sure our timing and technique is pristine is key. Drilling the smallest parts of a routine is what we focus on, and making it the best we can since this is our last time performing competitively this season.” 

The Bulldogs will need a top 12 performance day 1, in order to make it to the finals on Feb. 1.

Update: The Bulldogs took home 18th place on Friday, which was not high enough to advance to the finals. Moore’s statement about stronger opponents in the 2A division proved to be right considering Deerfield placed first, followed by Geneva second, and a third-place finish from Lake Zurich. There are a total of 82 teams in 2A for dance and for the Bulldogs to place 18th, Moore was very happy with her team’s performance. 

“We are happy with how we did. We care more about performing and representing our school well rather than placing extremely high. We all felt as if we did our best.”