By Ryan Palencer
AVON — Last weekend, the Avon Gold Dance Team became regional champions and advanced to the state finals.
“We are very excited,” said Adrienne Pfaffenberger, the team’s coach. “We have never advanced to the state level before. It’s a new thing for us, but we worked really, really hard. I think the girls are excited that their hard work is paying off.”
Team finals are March 13 at Lawrence North High School and the solo and ensemble competition is on March 20 at Crawfordsville.
The team advanced in advanced jazz and small ensemble. They also received second place and qualified for state in elite lyrical, two solos, and a duet.
The team is now practicing to prepare for these competitions.
“We have three practices a week,” Pfaffenberger said. “That’s how we have always practiced all year long. We added just one additional practice the week of the competition. I just want the girls to be able to rest and be at their peak performance on Saturday. We will put a few extra practices in there, just to make sure things are as perfect as they can be because the competition is pretty tight. Only fractions of points separate the team in our category.”
The primary role for the team is to perform at football and basketball games throughout the year.
“We have different routines that we do for those games,” Pfaffenberger said. “Then we bring in special choreographers on top of all of that to get ready for competition season. This is kind of our final thing. The football games and basketball games are over and we are still going. It’s just a long year that has gone pretty well. It’s a lot to ask of the girls to be that committed pretty much year-round, but it’s gone pretty well and placing this well is more motivation to keep working.”
Pfaffenberger calls her team “well-rounded.”
“Last year was the first time that we competed in the Indiana High School Dance Team Association circuit,” she said. “We just kind of figured out how it works last year and this year, we did it again.”
The team has three seniors, but a majority of the members are sophomores and juniors, with one freshman.
“All of the girls have danced before, outside of the school in a private studio and things like that,” Pfaffenberger said. “A lot of the girls are veterans with the team, so they know how it works.”
Though Pfaffenberger is not returning to coach next year, the future is bright for Avon.
“My last hurrah will be these next two competitions,” she said. “They have new coaches in place for next year and I think they are just going to continue to build on that and go to bigger and better things.”
ryan.palencer@flyergroup.com
