Reynolds and West Albany host the second weekend of Dance/Drill

Solo and Duo competitors take the stage, Hip Hop tops the charts with Lake Oswego and South Medford leading the way.

A second week of Dance/Drill competitions were held over the weekend with Reynolds and West Albany playing hosts. Reynolds’ Eastside Dance Festival and West Albany’s Celebrations of Dance shared their gyms with over two dozen teams, featuring the Jazz, Modern, Novelty, Contemporary, Hip Hop, and Pom team events.  

Reynolds Team posing with Rip City Crew

Also at Reynolds, for the first time this season, the solo and duo categories were mixed among the team offerings. 

The Reynolds competition was dominated mostly by 6A teams in numbers, but not necessarily in points, and hosted teams from Barlow, Canby, Forest Grove, Grant, Gresham, Lake Oswego, Lincoln, Nelson, Parkrose, Pendleton, Tigard, West Linn, Westview, and of course, Reynolds.

West Albany, a slightly smaller event, was heavily attended by 1A-5A teams, of which included Cascade (club team), Gladstone, Lebanon, Newberg, North Eugene, Philomath, Scappoose, Sheldon, South Albany, South Medford, and the dancers from West Albany.

Both events lumped all classifications together into one group for each category, giving some categories quite a large field of teams.  

Canby at Reynolds Competition

For the Jazz category, South Albany took a clear lead down south at the Celebration of Dance, while Parkrose, for their first competitive appearance of the season, took the first place spot at the Eastside Dance Festival.  

In a field of seven Jazz offerings at the Reynolds competition, the top five teams were within three points of each other. This category appears to be fluid and unpredictable after two weekends of competition, noting dynamic shifts in scores from one panel of judges one weekend to a new panel of judges the next.  

Moving on to another larger field of teams, the always dynamic Hip Hop category had some high scores and fierce competition. South Medford claimed a high score of the day at West Albany, and Lake Oswego claimed the highest score of both events at Reynolds.  South Medford received 83.22, and Lake Oswego received 85.50.  

Sheldon at West Albany Competition

The only other team that broke into the 80s over the weekend were Canby’s Contemporary and Modern routines at the Reynolds event, receiving 80.72 and 80.50 respectively. Forest Grove was right on Canby’s tail in the Contemporary category with 79.06. Taking the Contemporary category at West Albany was the host team, West Albany, with 78.17.  

Competition in the Modern category was sparse over the weekend, as Sheldon was the only team at West Albany, and Canby was the only team at Reynolds.  

Another lighter category at West Albany was Novelty, with Newberg sharing their creativity as the only competitor. At Reynolds, Pendleton wowed the judges with their winning 70’s themed routine, enhanced with hula hoops and head-to-toe orange costumes covered with a vibrant 70’s style flower print.

Tigard - 1st Place Pom

Pom proved to be another tough category, with six teams at Reynolds and four teams at West Albany. Tigard took the first place honors at Reynolds and West Albany received another first place trophy at their home competition.  

At Reynolds, Tigard had a decisive lead of 79.39 in Pom, but the following four placements were less than two points apart. Yet another category that may reveal some placement fluctuation and scoring surprises throughout the competitive season.

Also making an appearance for the first time this season were several solo and duo presentations. Well crafted and charismatic, the solos were separated into 9th/10th grade, 11th grade, and 12th grade groups.  

Parkrose Dancers Alyssa and Avery - Solo Category

A remarkable score of 89.56 was received by a senior dancer from Parkrose, Avery Smith, followed closely by her teammate Alyssa Baker (88.33). Tigard was certainly in the mix with the third place soloist among the12th grade offerings, Izzy Rinehart, scoring 87.50. These three soloists received three of the four “Superior” ratings of the day, with the fourth attributed to Lake Oswego’s team Hip Hop. 

Other soloist winners were Sophomore dancer Tobin Kleen-Williams (Forest Grove) and Junior Elysia Sepp from Tigard. 

For the Duos, a pair of pairs completed the round with a duet from Forest Grove (Vivienne Richards and Haley Zieman), and a winning duet from Barlow (Hayden Crocker & Kylie Jones).  

Vivienne from Forest Grove danced with her long-time friend and teammate, Haley Zieman. Vivienne enjoys “the challenge and the reward of trying to be in synchronization with another dancer that you have been dancing and growing [up] with for years.”  

As always, the essential drill down competitions at each event “right-faced” and “left-faced” the competitors down to four top ten groups. Two advanced groups and two novice groups. The names are listed below.

Competitions return after a short break with Rex Putnam hosting on December 6, followed by the DDCA Category Championships on December 13.

Eastside Dance Festival - First Place Team Finishes

• Hip Hop: Lake Oswego (85.50)

• Contemporary: Canby (80.72)

• Modern: Canby (80.50)

• Pom: Tigard (79.39)

• Novelty: Pendleton (74.94)

• Jazz: Parkrose (74.78)

• All Results (Including Solo and Duo)

Celebration of Dance - First Place Team Finishes

• Hip Hop: South Medford (83.22)

• Contemporary: West Albany (78.17)

• Pom: West Albany (77.17)

• Jazz: South Albany (73.50)

• Novelty: Newberg (69.58)

• Modern: Sheldon (64.61)

• All Results

Drill Down Finalists

• Eastside Dance Festival (Novice): Sydney Fabela (Forest Grove), Charlotte Harkin (Gresham), Maddy Graham (Gresham), Fiona Maxwell (Gresham), Izbel Moore (Reynolds), Petra Sullivan (West Linn), Scarlett Spagnoli Hilber (Grant), Eden Stevens (Parkrose), Lia Jenae Tierra (Reynolds), Maddyx Ruzanski (West Linn)

• Celebration of Dance (Novice): Lucia Caffall (Newberg), Mackenzie Classen (Scappoose), Katie Lin (Scappoose) Olivia Lowe (South Albany), Ashlyn Mackinder (South Albany), Hailynn Nunn (Scappoose), Ariel Reyes (South Medford), Chloe Rintoui (Scappoose), Grace Starish (South Medford), Brynlee Washburn (West Albany),

• Eastside Dance Festival (Advanced): Ryan Coy (Pendleton), Ellie Geesey (Pendleton), Sierra Hill (Reynolds), Cherrnoh CK Kargbo (Reynolds), Hana LaBeaux (Tigard), Kaitlyn McCord (West Linn), Ruby Nunley (Parkrose), Dayessi Orosco-Montalvo (Reynolds), Leann Vang (Reynolds), London Wilcox (Canby)

• Celebration of Dance (Advanced): Cierra Arstill-Brown (Scappoose), Athena DeVaul (South Albany), Nyah Kinney (West Albany), Abby Lemen (Scappoose), Maria Hana LaBeaux (Newberg), Resse McMahon (South Medford), Aurora O'Neill (Scappoose), Savannah Overbeck (South Albany), Rosie Roselund (Scappoose), Aubree Vanderhoff (South Medford)