The Royalette Dance Team joined more than 300 dancers from 20 area schools at the Universal Dance Association (UDA) summer camp on the campus of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. The camp offers teams an opportunity to come together as a group, learn new skills, meet other dancers and showcase their first routine.
"Our team was challenged this year with more difficult routines," said Head Coach Chrissy Salvador '95, who is a Royalette alumna. "They certainly stepped up and rose to the occasion, with every O'Connell dancer earning individual blue ribbons on all three routines they performed."
When they performed their home routine for the judges, the Royalettes were rewarded with a blue ribbon evaluation, second place and a bid to Nationals. They were also awarded a superior trophy as the team with the highest averages of individual evaluations earned through the duration of camp.
All six Royalettes who were nominated for All-American were selected and invited to perform at the London's New Year's Day Parade--Erika Williams '18, Haley Breaux '18, Katarina Visek '18, Julia Stievater '19, Caroline Brenninkmeyer '19 and Gaby Dominguez '20. In addition, the team's officers were invited to perform at the Varsity Spirit Spectacular, and the entire team has been invited to perform at the pre-gram show for the 2017 Citrus Bowl.
"One of the team's proudest moments, was when they were named as the 110% Award winners," added Salvador. "The UDA staff awards this to the team who displays the most leadership and teamwork during the course of the week. The last time O'Connell received this award was in 2010."
The Royalettes met up with several familiar teams at this year's camp, including fellow dancers from Paul VI in Fairfax. The two teams made time in their busy camp schedule to attend Mass together (see photo below).
The O'Connell dance team is on a short break until mid-August. Be sure to catch their half-time performances during the football and basketball seasons.
