Lori Tombrello, Head Dance Coach of John Carroll Catholic High School in Birmingham Alabama, believes their team is different from other teams because of the environment they have created. “Our school and our dance team operate like one big family, starting from our Principal, to the Athletic Directors, to the coaches, to the dancers.” Their season runs almost year round with the exception of a few short breaks. Consequently, they get to know each other very well. Additionally, there are three divisions (middle school, junior varsity and varsity) so the girls dance together for many years – longer than the typical teams in a three-year high school. She also points out that since the coaching staff grew up dancing together, they are very close. Accordingly, they have an unusual opportunity to build relationships and trust among the staff and the students. “We know how to build trusting relationships with our dancers so they feel comfortable giving it their all in practice.” Practices are strenuous and the staff expects 110%. According to Lori, the girls know the coaches are rough on them because they want them to reach their maximum potential. Ultimately, the girls love and appreciate that challenge.
Since the team goes to Alabama state competitions and UDA Nationals in Orlando, Florida every year, it takes many months of extra long practices to fully prepare. Lori says that she constantly reminds the girls to keep their final goal in mind. She wants them to feel as prepared as possible when they arrive at their competitions. “We truly work our hardest at each and every practice. When we get to competitions, we can successfully say that we tried our best no matter what the results.
Lori says she has many proud moments that she will always cherish. One of her fondest memories is when her team made it to finals in 2012 in both jazz and hip -hop categories at UDA Nationals. Several years had passed since they had achieved finals in the jazz category as well as the hip hop category. “I will never forget the way we all felt when they announced our team into finals that year. We cried many tears of joy after all of the hard work that had been put into preparing for the competition.”
Obviously, mistakes are bound to happen during competition due to adrenalin and nerves. But the biggest mistake that she sees dancers make is not knowing what to do to cover up those mistakes. Sometimes they lose their facial expressions or stop dancing which makes it obvious that they had made a mistake. She coaches her dancers to continue dancing no matter what and to never change their facial expressions. She helps her dancers practice this remedy by supplying several pre-competition performance opportunities.
As far as good dance clothing, Lori likes her dancers to dress comfortably but with “clean lines” so that she can see their technique. When it comes to performing, the costumes first and foremost should match the style of the music. Since they are a catholic school, they always strive to keep their costumes modest, yet still current and flattering. As with their practice clothing, they keep “clean lines” in mind when designing costumes.
The dance team has a few goals for this year. They are working on their strength and conditioning. Also, they want to learn more gymnastic tricks to implement in their dances. They would like to break into the top ten in the jazz category at UDA Nationals. And, as they do every year, since Lori considers team chemistry to be the number one ingredient in any successful team, they are working hard on team-building.
Last February, the team ranked 12th out of more than 60 schools in Small Varsity Jazz and 6th out of more than 60 schools in the Small Varsity Hip Hop categories at the Universal Dance Association National Dance Team Championship at the Wide World of Sports in Orlando. They were the only team from the state of Alabama to advance to the final rounds of competition for both of their routines, Congratulations, girls!
By Cyndi Marziani
