State title motivates BHS dance team for nationals

Team chemistry wins championships. And Katie Goddard knows that is true for the Bearden dance team on its road to a 2011 TSSAA state championship. Bearden won first place in large varsity jazz and second for large varsity pom. This is Bearden’s second consecutive state title; their jazz routine is ranked 12 th in the nation. “We did a lot of team bonding,” said Goddard, a senior captain. “I think honestly that was the biggest key more than practicing necessarily.” Sisters Katie and Faith Goddard’s close knit relationship has also brought more of a family aspect to the team the past two seasons. “It’s been amazing because she is my best friend, and it’s going to be sad when she leaves,” Faith Goddard said. Added Katie: “As cheesy as it sounds, we all are really like sisters when we’re dancing, and it’s great because we are best friends.” Now that the girls have achieved their goal of winning the State title, they are hard at work again, with seven-hour weekend practices along with their regular week day practices, in hopes of capturing first place at the UDA Nationals. The championships will be held at the Wide World of Sports in Disney World, in Orlando on Feb. 4. “It will slow down for a couple of weeks, but we’ll still have practices,” Faith said. “Then our choreographer will come back near nationals, and we’ll start cleaning up the dances hard core again before nationals.” The team’s motto is “Believe,” and their jazz song, “All Fired Up,” by Pat Benatar, has also served as inspiration this season. They have also tried to be more passionate with their routines and really pull from the lyrics of their songs. “With jazz it’s all about your passion,” Katie said. “So this year we really focused on pulling from the lyrics from our song, and we just showed in our dance of how passionate we are about it.” Other songs the girls have included in their pom routine are “Born This Way” by Lady Gaga, “Firework” by Katie Perry, “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” by Marvin Gaye and Tammie Terrell, the Glee version of Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing”, and “Encore” by Jay-Z. Although captains Goddard and Leah Pearl have led their team well, other girls on the team have also stepped up to motivate the team. “We get really revved up by motivational talks,” Pearl said. “So what we try to do is motivate everyone and get everyone together.” Bearden’s dance team will compete in the Smoky Mountain Christmas Championship on Dec. 3 before heading off to nationals in February. Litza Craig is a staff writer for The Bark. Follow The Bark on Twitter @BeardenBARK, and like The Bark (Bearden High School) on Facebook.