On February 14th and 15th, at Target Center, the State Dance Competition for 2020 was held.

Many different teams competed to go to finals. The teams for class A Jazz were: Duluth Marshall, Frazee, Houston, Minnewaska, BOLD, and Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton.

The teams for class AA Jazz were: Marshall, Totino-Grace, Rocori, Benlide-St. Margaret’s, Fairbault, and Simley.

The teams for class AAA Jazz were: Lakeville North, Blaine, Centennial, Brainerd, Anoka, and Edina.

To find more of the teams that competed go to: Jazz Preliminary. 

Every team did an excellent job but the teams that stood out the most to me were Simley and Edina.

Simley had a beautiful jazz dance. They had amazing spotting on their turns and many different types of leaps that were done well. Their song was upbeat and interesting for a jazz dance. Their costumes didn’t catch the eye, which made the dance a little less interesting. Overall, they did a wonderful job and the only thing I think they could have improved was better pointed toes and to incorporate more choreography compared to skills.

Edina had a very dramatic jazz dance. They also spotted very well on their turns. Their turns looked difficult. The whole dance was a bit chaotic. I think there was too much going on at once. Their music was quite lyrical for a jazz dance. Overall, they did a fantastic job, and the only thing I would suggest they work on is making it less chaotic and more put together. 

On February 15th, the high kick competition was also held at Target Center. The teams for class A Kick were: Frazee, Piez, Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City, St. Charles, Yellow Medicine East, and Cannon Falls.

The teams for class AA Kick were: Totino-Grace, Rocori, Zimmerman, Orono, St. Cloud Tech, and Simley.

The teams for class AAA Kick were: Centennial, Anoka, Chaska, Lakeville North, Spring Lake Park, and Eastview.

To find more of the teams that competed fo to: High Kick Preliminary. 

Once again every team did an excellent job but the teams that stood out the most to me were Austin and Simley.

Austin had a kick dance that I’ve never seen before. The dance was based off of the movie It. During their dance all of their kicks had pointed toes and they were all together. Their costumes were very interesting. Having 2 different colored pant legs are very hard in kick because if you don’t get your timing right on your kick you can tell exactly what person did it. They also had makeup on that made them look more like a clown. Overall, I didn’t find anything to critique their dance.

Simley had yet another beautiful kick dance. They had these amazing pink costumes. The mashup for their song was upbeat and catchy. Most of their kicks were together. One thing I would suggest to them is working on perfecting their skills more and kick height for some. Overall, they did a fabulous job.