By: John Ramirez
Photo credits to: Abigail Miller
In the middle of their performance, Cheer and Dance Force suddenly found themselves in the middle of the football field with no music playing, and with the entire crowd’s attention. Rather than stopping, these girls all carried out their routine in sync as if the music were still playing. Once they finished, the crowd lit up in a roar to applaud the effort that these teams put into not giving up on their routine.
Eliana Jaregui ’22, who is a part of The Ranger’s dance force team, says, “At first I was a little nervous, but as soon as I saw that everyone around me kept going, I got confident and kept going. In my head, I knew I had to keep going.”
With the team by her side, Jaregui remembered that the time spent in the studio was for this moment, and nothing was going to ruin it for her or her peers.
Makayla Wright ’22 is a cheerleader who performs alongside Dance Force, says, “I feel like we were all a little annoyed when the music went out because it was our last time performing, but it was also really cool to have the crowd cheer us all on for the rest of the dance. I’m proud of everyone for continuing the dance when the music went out because most of the cheerleaders hadn’t experienced that before.”
This last performance meant a lot to Wright, and she wanted the dance and cheer teams to give the crowd a show regardless of the technical difficulties that had occurred. Since it was Wright’s last time being able to do this in front of an audience, as a Redwood student, through the difficulties of having no music, she had continued to go through the routine to the best of her ability.
Brynlee Rasmussen ’22 explains how Dance Force and cheer were both able to overcome the technical difficulties. Rasmussen says, “It was a moment of stress, but we had to keep dancing. The crowd was really a big help, it kept us going. Also, I’m proud of everyone, the bond we have allowed us to perform as well as we did.”
Aside from the crowd boosting her confidence, Rasmussen saw that her fellow Dance Force members kept going, and gave her the motivation to finish the routine for everyone around her.
The Cheer and Dance Force teams did not let the music stop them from a routine that had been in the works since September. All of them pursued past this awkward adversity and followed through by giving the crowd a performance that they could enjoy.
Tags: cheer, dance and cheer, dance force, john ramirez, rangers, redwood dance, redwood gigantea, redwood high school, redwood journalism, redwood rangers, rhs, visalia ca