Many schools in Vermont have competitive dance teams, but EHS does not. The Hive talked with a few people about what a dance team would entail for coaches and interested students, and what it might take to start one. 

Rose Bedard is the Mount Mansfield Union varsity dance team coach. She has been coaching there for many years, and her team has participated in local and regional competitions.

“We compete in four local competitions and three championships, NVAC’s, Vermont State Championships and New England’s (if we qualify),” Bedard said by email. “We practice six days a week leading up to competitions. Competitions start in January and February and those are every Saturday.”

Ali Gingras is the South Burlington High School varsity dance team coach. She has been coaching her team since 2015.  She is very familiar with  the process of starting and maintaining a competitive dance team.

“First you would need to establish a dance club for two years,” Gingras said. “After two years you are then considered a sports team and are then able to enter into competitions.”

Patrick Merriam, EHS Athletics/Activities Director, shared in an email that although he isn’t exactly sure why EHS does not have a dance team, he does know that schools who have dance teams do not have winter cheerleading and/or gymnastics teams. 

“My initial ‘guess’ is that there has not been sufficient interest among the EHS student body up to now, and the cheerleading/gymnastic groups fulfill students who wish to have a group with a dance component,” Merriam wrote.

Recently, Student Government has been discussing the possibility of a dance team for EHS. The Hive reached out to sophomore Sophie Krauss about what has been passed in Student Government in regards to having a dance team.

“The Issues Committee in Student Government recently passed a bill that proposed a dance club that eventually would become a school-sponsored sports team (hopefully with time),” Krauss wrote.

While the proposition of a dance team at EHS is still in the works, it is great news to the dance community in the school.