Southern Sweethearts place 1st in spirit
Published 12:05 am Wednesday, December 4, 2019
- The Southern Sweethearts include, back row, from left to right, Jaycee Bennett, Lexie Heltz, Patience Pray (co-captain), Christy Louque, Kaylee Oubre, Ariana Matt, front row, Jaci Remondet, Madison Tassin (captain) and Gracie Heltz (co-captain.)
KENNER — Pride and spirit shined through in every performance by the Riverside Academy Southern Sweethearts Dance team Saturday at the LHSAA Spirit Dance Competition, held at the Pontchartrain Center in Kenner.
The girls exited the competition with a trophy that designated them the Division 3 state champs in Spirit, according to Southern Sweethearts captain Madison Tassin.
“It was basically based off of crowd appeal,” Tassin said. “You had to get your crowd pumped up and excited to cheer for you.”
The girls performed the school fight song, a stand routine and a pom dance. Tassin’s favorite was the last upbeat performance, perfectly synced to the song “Every Time We Touch.”
The Riverside Academy Southern Sweethearts dance team marches in the 2019 Norco Christmas Parade.
“We practiced almost every day after school trying to learn the dances, clean them, and perfect them,” Tassin said. “We had a showcase on Friday night, the day before the competition, to show our parents what we worked on.”
Southern Sweethearts director Darryl Clement said it was Riverside Academy’s first time entering the LHSAA Spirit Dance Competition. Although there was a learning curve involved, Clement liked that LHSAA based its divisions around school size, rather than team size.
At other competitions, schools with 1,000 students and a larger talent base can whittle their huge teams down to the 12 strongest performers to compete against smaller schools.
The LHSAA competition felt like more of an even playing field as Riverside Academy faced Opelousas and Catholic of New Iberia in a division of comparatively sized schools.
“It was exciting,” Clement said. “We were a little nervous going into it having never done it before, but it ended up great. We have four seniors on the team. I think that makes the team special is that they do everything themselves. They choreographed the routines themselves and chose the music.”
Above all, the Southern Sweethearts share a love for dance. They displayed endless energy and spirit at every football game, and Clement said they have taken on a larger role than a typical dance team.
“They’ve worked really hard,” Clement said. “They don’t just do competitions. They are a part of the band. They have double the work as any other dance team because they are learning to twirl flags and handle props in addition to trying to get ready for competitions.”
Through the Spirit in Dance competition, the LHSAA reminds the public that dance and cheer are not only forms of art, but also competitive sports.
A majority of the 50 teams that competed at the competition were cheer squads. Dance teams are still growing in representation.
Tassin said dance is one of her favorite high school pursuits because of the environment it brings.
“My favorite thing is how close we are,” Tassin said. “We’re not only friends; we’re more like a family. It’s probably the best thing I’ve chosen to do and one of the best organizations I’ve been in.”
The next step for the Southern Sweethearts is to prepare for the American All-Star state competition to be held in January at the Cajundome in Lafayette. Perfecting jazz and arm technique will be a major focus in the next few weeks of practice, Clement said.
