The 2022-2023 competition season of Pazzazz was a very successful one for the team! The team consisted of seven dancers: Alyssa Abernathy, Peyton Minner, Ava Fassler, Rachel Harms, Alyssa Hoffmann, Aubrie Spann, and Arwen French. Over the two months of the competition season, the group saw great success. They competed at three IDTA sectionals and one IHSA sectional, where they qualified for the states of both organizations. The girls performed at four basketball games with both their lyrical and hip-hop routine. The rest of this article will give more in-depth on how both of the team’s dances did and the success of their season.

The team’s lyrical dance is the dance that took them to IHSA State, as it qualified with third place in Effingham. The IHSA State took place in Bloomington and the team got 13th out of the 77 teams that were there. The lyrical placed second and third throughout the whole season, and placed fourth at IDTA State. The category for 2A lyrical was a stacked one for every competition they went to, so their places are nothing short of impressive. The dancer’s technique grew better every competition, and the dance was very rewarding for the team to watch how far they had come.

The Pazzazz girls are now State Champions! They placed first at IDTA State against some big team names such as Mount Vernon and Clinton. Throughout the season, the dance never lost; in fact, as it got first place at every single competition it went to. Because of this accomplishment, the team was honored at the boy’s basketball game on Friday the 17th, with their trophy being presented and later put on display near the gym. The state winning dance was also performed at the basketball game, marking the last time the dance would ever be performed. The team’s goal for the season was to place at state, so for them to place first is very special to them.

This season, the team hit many accomplishments that have not been seen in the program for a long time. They made it to both IHSA and IDTA State, and got very far in both respected competitions. As of now, the team’s morale is very high, and they are all very excited to see how far they can get next year!