Continental League Championships | Poms and Jazz | Ponderosa High School

So much fun seeing old friends and new at this championship! Here's just a few of the highlights from some of the teams we photograph. In the Varsity division ThunderRidge received first in Pom and Ponderosa first in Jazz. Way to go girls! Can't wait until State!

Congratulations | Newberry Scarlet Poms | Newberry, SC

Last fall I had the opportunity to fly to Newberry, South Carolina to photograph the amazing Scarlet Poms Team. It was just an overnight trip but gave me the opportunity to spend some time with some wonderful friends and check one more state of my bucket list of visiting all 50 states! I fell in love with this quaint college town so reminiscent of another town made famous years ago on TV with a similar name......Mayberry RFD.

In the short time I was there I also fell in love with the southern hospitality of the people and especially these girls (and guy) on the team. Well, this great team just went to the UDA Collegiate Dance Championships and rocked the socks of their judges in their appearance. They took 2nd in Poms and 6th in Hip Hop!

Congratulations to coach Jenna Eyre (who I used to carpool to dance with my daughter and some friends way back when she was a grade schooler!) and her magnificent team. They have been winning trophies left and right since Jenna starting coaching there three years ago. Way to go Newberry !!

ThunderRidge Poms...You Rock! | Highlands Ranch, CO

Poms Teams are so much more than just the girls you see on the sidelines and at halftime at high school sporting events! Yes, they are great spirit supporters of their athletic teams BUT they are also amazing athletes, scholars and SO much more!

For example, this ThunderRidge High School Poms Team. Did you know that they were recognized as one of the top 15 fundraising teams for St. Jude's Children's Hospital for the second year in a row? They will have three representatives traveling to Memphis this spring to visit the kids and the facilities at St. Jude's. AND, will be bringing EVEN MORE in donations with them when they go! I love that!

On the athletics side, this team had a great year in competitions. At the league competition, Varsity placed second in league. In Regionals they placed first in both Pom and Hip-Hop. At the CHSAA State Spirit Championships they were the state runner up in in Pom. And in Nationals, at the Universal Dance Association National Championship in Orlando, Florida they placed 14th out of 81 teams in the small Pom division. Making it to the finals in an amazingly competitive field competing against the top teams in the whole United States!

And the JV team they also had some great wins, winning the JV Invitational (the JV State Competition in spirit) and the JV Small Pom Regionals!

AND, all the while they were competing they were honoring an athlete on the team whose mom recently died of cancer. Raising funds for cancer and also participating the the Susan G. Koman Breast Cancer Walk. Way to go girls! You should be so proud of all the accomplishments you have had this year! We are honored to have had the opportunity to photographed you.

Spring Team Sessions- Ponderosa High School | Parker, CO

Spring team portraits! In the world of high school dance, many Poms Team have other outfits than their "traditional" uniform that they compete in. For Example, the top image is of the Ponderosa Poms Jazz outfit that they competed at the UDA National Dance Competition in. They also competed in Jazz at the CHSAA State Spirit Championship, where these girls took second in State! Way to go girls!

The Junior Varsity Team had some changes to their team so we did another portrait in their uniforms to include everyone! And the rest of the images....just some fun team portraits, because girls, and especially dancers, LOVE pictures. Just like us!

Colorado School of Dance Student Highlight - Sierra

Our Colorado School of Dance Student Spotlight this week is the adorable Sierra. Sierra just came back from the Jump Dance Convention where she was able to make some new friends and take some workshop classes!

A couple of weekends ago she was at the Tribute Dance Competition with CSD.  She competed her musical theater solo to "Born to Entertain" in the 8 and under honor level. She placed with an Elite 1st and 1st overall for 8 and under in the solo division. Sierra also placed 1st runner up in the Title category. She competed her lyrical solo to Once Upon A Time and earned a Elite 1st.

Her mom told me that this was all a huge win for Sierra in more ways than just the trophies and wins. In January, she withdrew her solo in a competition due to some performance fear. At Tribute, she walked away from this weekend building friendships, learning how to bond as a team and seeing first hand that you can overcome your fears.  Way to go Sierra!! As someone who has some of the same fears I know what a big win this is for you! Congratulations and best of luck in the remainder of the season!

Colorado School of Dance Student Highlight - Sydney

Continuing with our Colorado School of Dance Student Highlights, the oh so cute Sydney won the best costume award for her tap solo (shown first here) AND  her CSD lyrical group number "Prayers for the Children"  won the eight and under overall catagory. Woo hoo!

 This is Sydney's first year competing solos and she is doing great! Her mom is so proud of her!  She's also one of only two 3rd graders in her school that got selected for her school's tumbling team. Way to go Sydney!!! So glad we could capture your dance moves on film. Oh wait, we don't use film anymore. Ok...on digital? Just doesn't have the same ring. BUT, digital or film you will have the memories forever! That's what our business is all about!

Colorado School of Dance Student Highlight - Dalton

This week and next we are hoping to highlight some of the students that we photographed from the Colorado School of Dance Team Portraits that we did back in January. The CSD teams are right in the middle of their competition season right now, and had a great showing at the Tribute National Talent Competition last weekend. So now, without further ado let's talk about Dalton!

I have photographed Dalton as long as I have had my business. In fact, before I even started my business. He has grown into such a great young man. But, you don't need to take my word for it. Listen to what he won at Tribute. He won Mr. Tribute Teen, He was the winner of the the Tribute to my Parents Award. The "Search for Life" Dance received a superior first and a first overall. The dance "You and I" received an Elite first and a 4th overall. The Dance "Seven Nation Army" received an Elite first and a 5th overall. "Bring It On" received an Elite First and 10th overall. His duet (pictured above with MacKenzie) called Let Me Fall received an Elite 1st and a 4th overall. His tap solo received a Superior first and in the top ten. And finally, his Lyical Light received an elite first place. Whew!

But, there's more...he was the Prince in Nutcracker at Christmas and not to mention he is fabulous in academics at his high school. Dalton, you are awesome and we are so proud to feature you as our first CSD Student Highlight! Congratulations!

The Broncos aren't the only ones competeing for a National Championship this weekend...

Yes, these lovely ladies will have to hear about the Broncos score back stage at the UDA National High School Dance Championships this weekend. We SO love photographing Poms Teams! So much that we have made a special section in our new website specifically for teams. You can visit (and order) portraits here. We wish you girls SO much luck this weekend and can't wait to hear how the Colorado teams represent at UDA! We will be tuning into Varsity.com this weekend to follow you and cheer you on!!!