Angela Prieur, the head coach of the Varsity Dance/Pom Team at Brighton High School in Brighton, Michigan, believes their dance team is special because they have “crazy energy,” have a huge drive to improve every year and a desire to make the last seniors proud. One of their sayings is “continue the legacy, and continue to grow.” Their team tends to make their arrival known wherever they go because they are “constantly having fun and living the moment.” She also stated that the team sincerely considers themselves a “family” and “really love and support one another.” Angela wants every girl to feel valued no matter what their level of dance ability and encourages them to not have a “dog eat dog mentality” where they are in a constant battle for the top spot. Her goal for the girls is to know that they are always a part of the Dance/Pom family even after they have graduated and that the school “will always be PROUD” of their team. As it stands, past members join them at camp and
competitions every year to support the team even when they don’t know anyone on the present team.
Angela wrote a mission statement at the beginning of the year. Everyone read it and signed it. Angela feels it is a good way to say, “Hey, today you had a bad day and you don’t really feel like working, but you committed to this team and if you want to be successful you have to work.” She likes to concentrate on achieving goals and believes having these goals on paper at their first practice helps them do that. She encourages the girls to stay positive and always work to achieve those goals. She also encourages them to strive to always be better than their last performance. She doesn’t want anyone to ever be satisfied with what they can do but push to be even better.
Every team has left something special with her and she has many moments that have made her proud over the last 9 years. However, she said that making Finals at UDA Nationals was an exceptionally proud moment. It was something that they had discussed and worked extremely hard to achieve. When it happened, it reminded her how far the team and program had actually come. It made her proud not just for the team but for every team alumni there. They want to continue to be better and are just striving to go farther, not just for themselves but also for the program.
When it comes to mistakes that dancers can make, Angela thinks that there are a number of things that can go wrong on the floor. Obviously, bad technique would be a problem. Also, sloppy formations can really ruin a dance. She constantly reminds her team of the importance of clean formations and lines. Their saying is, “Guide Right” for lines and “If I can see your eyes and you are not the front girl, then you’re wrong.” She also tells them, “an inch counts as not being in line.” Angela also believes that a performance can also be ruined by lack of energy. For that reason, she thinks cardio workouts are important to help them push past that “tired moment” in a performance. “Powerful and clean performances where the team maintains their energy from beginning to end is most impressive”.
Angela approves of dance clothing that is fun and comfortable. If the girls’ outfit rides up, is too tight or revealing, they won’t dance their best. A dancer must be comfortable and confident that those booty shorts won’t show their whole booty!
The team has many goals but Angela thinks the most important are to make every performance count and to dance as one. She operates on the premise that every performance at a football, soccer or basketball game is practice for competition. Another goal is to have every girl try more difficult skills to perform as a team and for no one to say, “I can’t.” The team cannot grow in their abilities if someone says, “I can’t.” Their most important goal is to stay working through the entire season. It is really easy to get lazy later in the season since they practice for about 9 months a year.
When asked to name some dancers who have won awards and what awards they won, Angela replied as follows:
It sounds as if Angela is truly blessed!
By Cyndi Marziani
Bailar Dancewear
