For years, Spring Lake High School has held a dance team program. The dance team would get opportunities to perform at a variety of events, including football games, basketball games, and pep assemblies. The team also participated in a competitive season where Spring Lake and Grand Haven’s dance teams would combine to compete at dance invitationals and competitions.
However, this school year, Spring Lake no longer has a dance team.
There isn’t a straightforward reason to why Spring Lake High school has experienced the loss of their dance team; however, former dancer Tess Orquist—a senior at Spring Lake—shared that although it’s “hard to say exactly,” recent coaching changes and losses have made it hard to adjust, and “very hard and stressful to keep a team together.”
A big part of Spring Lake’s dance team was competitions, where dancers were able to interact wth other schools’ dancers, create unforgettable memories, and compete in a sport they love with fellow team members.
The loss of this program has caused many emotions in team members as they have lost their way to compete in the activity they love through the school team. Many seniors who were former dance team members have said they will miss dancing, including Tess, who said she’s “pretty disappointed I won’t be able to finish off my senior year with a team I have been with all throughout high school.”
The discontinuation of this program has taken away students’ extracurricular activity, which not only provided entertainment for students at sporting events, but also provided a connected team environment for girls who were involved in the team. The expression of sadness from former dancers has come out since the loss of the dance team this school year.
