A Competitive Spirit

Josie Luke

Local dancers and gymnasts along with their parents and instructors are working to prepare for competition and Spring shows in the first months of this year. Those students include gymnasts from LaRae’s Dance Studio Gym Spinners, and dancers from Emery All-Star Cheerleading and Showtime Dance Studio.

The Spinners participated in a preliminary meet on Jan. 26 held by the Southern Utah Tumbling and Trampoline Association in which five teams competed. The group had about 60 students ages 2 to 17 competing from levels 1-10 in tumbling on springfloor, and double-mini and trampoline.

LaRae Majors estimated that the team won a third of the possible 180 gold medals in the competition. Next up for the team will be a competition held in Helper on March 1 and then in Spanish Fork on March 29. The state meet will be held at Canyon View Junior High on May 3.

Majors is assisted by Head Coach Terry Salisbury, Mindi Nelson, Kari Ewell, Melanie Caldwell, Kim Copinga, Melissa Allred, Jamie Ewell, Angela Fox and Rebecca Wright. The Spinners will have their Spring Gymnastics Show on May 2 at Canyon View and will participate in a dance recital April 26 at Emery High School. They will also continue to participate in the Utah Summer Games.

The All-Star Cheerleading team takes four teams of dancers to competitions. The teams are: the Starlets, ages 3 and 4; Gems, ages 5 to 8; Dazzlers, ages 9 to 11; and Elites, ages 10 to 18, who are required to try out for the team. The teams have already competed twice and recently performed at a Utah Jazz basketball game.

On Dec. 8, they traveled to Cottonwood High School where the Elites took 3rd place and then to Bingham High School in South Jordan where the Starlets placed 1st, the Gems placed 3rd and the Elites also placed 1st.
Their next competition is scheduled for April 5 at the Energy Solutions Arena in Salt Lake City. Their Spring Show will be at Canyon View Junior High on April 30. The team is led by Becky Bunnell who is assisted by Breann Bently.

Dancers from Showtime will also compete in competitions throughout the state of Utah. The Studio boasts a total of 65 students divided by age into four teams: the Delights, ages 5 and 6; Supremes, ages 7 to 9; Elites, ages 10 to12; and Ultras, 13 and over. All four groups will travel to St. George to compete on March 29 and then to Salt Lake to compete the very next weekend, April 5.

The dancers prepare routines in jazz, tap, hiphop and ballet. The team is led by Don Jeffs, who is assisted by Laurel Lemon, Nicole Murray and Haley McCracken. Their Spring Show will be held on May 3.