Forty teams qualified for the State Basketball Tournament after days, weeks and months of practice. Another championship caliber team that will show its talent Friday and Saturday has practiced just a few hours. That team is the All-Iowa Honor Dance Team, which has become a tradition at the Girls’ State Basketball Tournament.
All dance teams represented are members of the Iowa State Dance Team Association, and the dancers were chosen based on ability, attitude, dedication and leadership qualities. Auditions were held last fall at Newton Community Schools. After just hours of practice together, the students annually put on a show that is nationally recognized as one of the finest of its kind. Grand View University serves as the host for the Thursday and Friday rehearsals.
The pregame performance will include 50 dancers performing a patriotic salute. Rachael Wurr of Pella is the choreographer. The national anthem will be sung by Jackie Schmillen who is the morning anchor for the “We Are Iowa” team on Channel 5.
The halftime show will take place during the 4A championship game (2:30 pm) Saturday. The halftime group includes 238 dancers representing 92 Iowa high schools.
Coverage of the pregame and halftime performances can be viewed on your local Iowa PBS stations.
The IGHSAU salutes, for the 41st consecutive year, Kathy Enyart and the All-Iowa Honor Dance Team. We (MMCRU) had three dancers selected to be a part of the All-Iowa Honor Dance Team. Asya Miller and Isabelle Olson were a part of the halftime performance and Kierra Gengler was a part of the pregame performances.