By Andy Nystrom
anystrom@redmond-reporter.com
Coach Natalie Carpenter’s eyes light up when she excitedly speaks about what her Redmond High dance team has achieved this season.
During their rigorous competitions, the Mustangs can fire up a crowd just like any other sports team.
“When I’m watching them do it right, it’s electric. When they really nail it, you can just feel it. It’s just really cool to see it all come together,” said Carpenter, whose squad qualified for the 4A state championships for the third straight season last month.
Redmond provided a spark of sportsmanship, as well, when the squad lent the fledgling Mount Si High program a hand. The squads met while attending a dance camp last summer, and Carpenter learned that the Wildcats needed help choreographing a two-minute routine. Enter Redmond’s Jessica Mitchell, Vanshika Kumar and Molly Kappes, who stepped into the roles of mentors and got things rolling for their dance colleagues.
Mount Si qualified for the district meet and the Redmond squad was proud to watch them shine during their performance.
“To me, that is more important than any first-place trophy we would ever win at any dance competition. Our core covenants this year were community, respect, poise and grit,” Carpenter said. “It was just really special to see them be such wonderful role models and to help extend that community and that sharing of expertise.”
The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) received word of Redmond’s special bond with Mount Si and honored the Mustangs with a sportsmanship award at the state meet and all the girls received medals.
“The sportsmanship displayed by the Redmond dance team was incredibly compassionate and generous. Their selflessness served as a reminder to student-athletes, coaches, administrators and parents of what is truly important in competitions,” said WIAA Executive Director Mike Colbrese.
Mount Si coach Jen Stokes said she and her dancers are grateful for the time and effort the Redmond trio extended to help her squad. The Wildcat coach also praised Carpenter for bringing the choreography idea to fruition.
“It gave us a great foundation to build on in our inaugural year. What I found incredibly remarkable was the support they offered my dancers from the front row of the audience while they took the competition floor for the first time — and every competition we attended together since,” Stokes said.
Mustang senior Mitchell has won dance awards before, but said the sportsmanship honor is the most special one. It struck her on a personal level in that she felt it was a natural thing for the girls to be helping others. It’s what the dance scene — and life – is all about.
When Redmond sophomore Kappes witnessed the hard-working Mount Si squad bounce through their routine, she was speechless and noted that the Wildcats exemplified the “wow!” factor.
“Helping them, I have a really big passion for dance, and being able to share that with someone else was a really great feeling,” Kappes said.
Kumar, another Redmond sophomore, enjoyed watching the Mount Si girls grow and perform their routine.
She knows what it’s like to be new to dance and dig within herself to build up the confidence and courage to notch success. She was shaking and a bit scared the first time she performed in front of a crowd, but that soon changed.
“When I go on that floor with these other 12 people with me, I forget all of that,” Kumar said of the nerves. “All I see is the crowd and I see the people right next to me, and I’m like, ‘This is great.'”
Carpenter has taken Redmond to state for each of her three seasons as the Mustangs’ coach. She danced and coached at Eastlake High and also judged competitions, so she knows what it takes to build a solid squad.
To prepare for the intense, adrenaline-flowing competitions, the squad trains all summer and attends and hosts camps. When school starts, they kick off with football halftime routines and assemblies and then move into the competitive realm in November and finish up in March.
Just like other Mustang sports teams, the dance squad does strength and conditioning training, practices about 20 hours a week and has its own personal trainer.
“In order to be really successful dancers, they really have to cultivate an athlete’s mentality. They need to be mentally prepared, they need to be physically prepared, they need to be involved with giving their body the right fuel,” said Carpenter, who added that her dancers are basically sprinting for two minutes straight during their routines while mixing in splits and high kicks.
Carpenter said the girls have gained the admiration from the Redmond High community when they roll through their complex and layered routines, which feature poms to add a crucial visual effect. The coach is impressed with how the girls listen to and count the musical beats when they’re in action and communicate with each other to nail a routine. Some routines feature themes and stories, so the girls are part actors and part athletes.
Mitchell, who will be a Redmond dance team assistant next season, thrives on putting in a full day of preparing and dancing when it’s competition time.
“It’s really an experience like no other kind of thing. The entire day is built up, it’s like the day before Christmas, you’re just pumped up,” she said. “As soon as you get to the competition, it’s like Christmas day, you’re opening up (presents), your entire family’s there with you. It’s just really exciting.”
Kappes thrives on being a part of the dance community and putting her athleticism to the test.
“I’ve played soccer and I did basketball for a few years, and it’s just as intense,” she said.
The Redmond dance squad will hold tryouts May 24-26 and informational packets will be available at Redmond Middle School, Evergreen Middle School and the high school at the start of May.
