I was at this conference meet. The Jazz standings are what they should be, I believe the judges got that right.
But the kick? I just don't get it. It should have been Brainerd, Tech, Sartell. How can Brainerd perform even better than they did at Wayzata (where they won) and not win here? I just don't understand how the judging can be so up and down and the inconsistencies in the scoring. Not just this meet, but all of them.
Brainerd knew they couldn't win conference because of the earlier jazz DQ from December, but Tech lost the conference title by placing third in kick, and that's too bad.
That is just how this sport works. It is all subjective. You can go to a meet where all the judges love the choreography or you could go to one where they all hate it. Yeah, it sucks when you feel that a team really did not deserve the place you got, but you can not dwell on it. You need to take look at the score sheets and see what you can do better for next time.
I attended the conference meet as well and unlike the first comment, I felt that the kick placements were right on. Previous competitions do not dictate the results at subsequent competitions and that is the way it should be. Scores depend on what happens the moment that music starts, not on who your team is or who they have beat in a previous competition. I thought the judging at the CLC Championship was right on and based on the rank points in the kick portion of the competition, it appears that there were no inconsistencies in which routine should receive first place.
Just because Brainerd won an invite does not mean they would win their conference. Just because Brainerd is a AAA team that won an invite in the AAA kick category does not mean that they will not be beaten by Sartell, a AA team, at conference. AA and AAA top team are equally as good as each other.
Does anyone know if the Eastview Showcase scores will ever be made public? I know it probably would not be until after state, but I am just curious if Chaska beat Eastview in kick. They both had strong routines but Chaska blew me out of the water. They have the best kick routine in any class this year. Absolutely amazing.
Apple Valley, Blaine, Eastview, Hopkins, Chaska, Eagan, Wayzata, SLP, and Maple Grove were all there. I'll just go over what I believe the highlights were... -Apple Valley has a pretty good state kick dance. If they drill it more, I could see them taking home another 3rd place medal. -Blaine's jazz has come a long way since the beginning of the season. It is nice to see a team improve that much. -Eastview's jazz, in my opinion, was the best jazz of the night. So much passion and great dancers= Phenomenal dance! Their kick on the other hand... They have great kicks and precision and they dance the routine very well, but the actual dance itself was not all that great. I think people will either love it or hate it. -Wayzata's jazz looked sloppy for being so close to sections. Not that big of a fan of their dance. -Maple Grove's new jazz is better, but it is nothing compared to last years routine. They are probably neck and neck with Wayzata. -Chaska stole the show! Their jazz was excellent and their kick was just, there are no words to describe how amazing it was. They will 100% sweep state this year.
I totally agree. The team of the evening was Chaska! Both dances were amazing. Their jazz better than I have ever seen before. Their dance was clean, great turns, and beautifully choreographed, one of my favorites. Their kick dance was WOW WOW WOW! They had to have won. Their kicks were wow, their choreography is wow, their formations were wow. If they were in AAA, I think they would medal in both, and even win kick. Other evening highlight for me- -Eastview Jazz. They danced like they LOVE what they are dancing to and it made it so wonderful to watch. Their turns were off but their choreography is great. -MG Jazz. Love the new dance, much better than the first. Best technique of any team. -Eastview Kick. Their new dance is entertaining. They still have some work to do on it but cute. -AV Kick. It is a cute dance. They were sharp and clean. Nice kick technique, just lacking a little height. I am pretty sure the all the AAA and AA state champs were among those dancing at the showcase!
It's really to bad that Chaska didn't opt to stay in AAA, being the cut to move to AAA is 1145 and they have 1042 students. This being said, I feel the same for Faribault who combines as a COOP with Bethlehem Academy, again they had 1141 students (AAA being at 1145).
Each of these teams are so talented and to be put down in AA and decide to stay there, I think was a shame. They do very well in AAA so staying in AA is almost kind of a joke.
I feel this takes away from the teams already in a very TOUGH section of 1AA.
I agree in that Chaska will sweep state in both. Congrats.
I think it is unfortunate that people discount the true talent in AA. AA has AMAZING dancers and to say Chaska will sweep is not fair to the real talent in that class. Chaska's choreography is insane, there is no question that they bring unique routines and entertaining choreography, but that is not the only component on the score sheet. Unfortunately, technique is not as celebrated in High Kick as a musical theatrical production and dizzying choreography. Regardless of who has the best kick technique and precision vs who has the best choreography, AA is so much more then what people give this class credit for. So please consider the incredible talent that exists in the true AA teams before you discount them. AA has had incredible kick and jazz routines FAR before Chaska decided to come down to AA.
They didn't choose to go down that is where they are suppose to be if you read the coaches response and seeing them at Eastview they had the whole package including amazing technique.
What is a "true" AA team? All the teams in AA are "true" AA teams, otherwise they would be in a different class.
Class is determined by school enrollement. Chaska's dance team did not "decide" to have their school's enrollment at 1042 just as Wayzata's dance team does not choose to have 3000+ students. Chaska is in the class they are suppose to be in just as Sartell is in the class they are suppose to be in. Talent is not determined by class but by team.
Just to give you an idea here is the follwong enrollemnt number of some top AA and AAA school. Clearly Chaska in the correct class.
I think maybe this will help you understand that there are no "true" or "fake" AA teams. Chaska's enrollment is at 1042. That is almost 2,000 kids less than, for example Wayzata. So let's set up a hypothetical situation. Chaska now has 2,000 kids less than Wayzata, but if they were to be at Wayzata's size they would have a hypothetical 2,000 more kids. In the hypothetical 2,000 kids there could be no dancer's at all. But, more likely, in that 2,000 person deficit, there could hypothetically be 40 new dancers. 40 new dancers is enough to make a whole new dance team added on to their original team. So then, a school the size of Wayzata would be able to choose which dancers are the most talented out of their huge pool of dancers, thus, creating the best team. So Chaska, with its 2,000 new students and 40 new dancers, could cut their weakest 15 dancers currently on the team and replace them 15 new (and better) dancers from their hypothetical 40, making their team even better. This is why classes are grouped by numbers. Numbers increase the chances of having better dancers to fill your team because the number of kids, and thus, dancers are increased. Chaska, and for example Sauk Rapids or Sartell, have similar numbers in their school and thus similar numbers of dancers to choose from. This is fair and provides for equality in competition. Equality in competition is something that we should relish and praise the MSHSL for, not criticize the MSHSL for. We especially should not criticize teams like Faribault and Chaska for coming down a class when they had no say in it and the schools were just trying to provide equality.
I am very confused by the post on February 6th. Of course choreography isn't the only component on the score sheet. I don't think that teams like Cathedral or Sartell bring the most "new" or "dizzying" choreography year after year, but they are successful teams because they succeed at every other category. So, I would not discount Chaska simply because they do have strong choreography. Have you looked at the other categories and decided how Chaska matches up to those? Kicks? Execution? I guess we'll get to see this weekend, and hopefully at state, how they rank in every category. By the way, what team is doing a musical theater production? I would love to see that!
I think it's not whether the judges like the choreography. People that have not been a coach or judge don't always understand that. Yeah choreography is part of it but that is only 1 small part of the scoresheet. You have to be strong in all the areas. I've seen teams with great choreo and poor technique. It's a total package.
I thought Chaska was AA this year...so why would they be competing at a competition with the top teams of AAA? And off of that, they are a strong team so why would they move down to AA when they could win AAA?
Chaska is AA this year. The showcase was just a place where teams could go and get judged like an actual competition. Plus, maybe they wanted to see how they could do against AAA teams. They moved down because their enrollment went down. They were suppose to be AA last year (2011) but their athletic director gave them the choice of AA or AAA and they chose AAA. However, this year was realignment so they were forced down to AA. I believe teams can petition or ask to be moved up a class, but most teams just stay where they are assigned. No different than what Faribault goes through.
I am from Chaska and I would like to clear things up. Both comments above are correct. However class choice or opting up is not always choice of the team itself, but rather your administration. Our administration made the call for ALL sports at our school this year. So to AA we went.
Experiencing AA this year has really been a wonderful experience for our team. We have learned A LOT. And while each class does have tendencies to value difference things, they are both equally strong and closer than most realize. I believe that being in AA has strengthened our team and forced us to face what our weakest areas were as a team and improve in those areas.
I do thank all of you who believe that we are a strong team, regardless of AA or AAA. It is very flattering. Please understand that just because a team is in AA does not mean they are less talented or not as good as AAA. It just means we have a smaller school population and we are competing against those that are of like size.
Both classes are wonderful and both bring excellent dancing to MN. Throughout this season the respect for our fellow AA competitors has just continued to grow. I feel thankful we have been able to experience both classes and we thank all of those who continue to support our team. We are very grateful!
To the coaches of Chaska and the Chaska Hawk Dance Team. I realize you guys may never see this, but I just wanted to say that your team is truly an inspiration. The passion your team has is unlike any other team in the state. Your jazz dance is amazing, but is does not even come close to how outstanding your kick is. After being apart of the dance team world for the past ten or so years, this was the first time I was truly in awe when watching a team perform. Every movement, even if it was just a choreographed hand, was sensational. Everything in that dance just seemed to work. Whoever came up with that routine should be very proud of themselves. It is honestly the best routine I have ever seen a dance team perform. Congratulations Chaska, you have now created a life long fan.
Chaska's dance was awesome...and they deserved to win HOWEVER, stating that your AD forced all sports to go to Class AA is interesting..,so with that mentality Cathedral(enrollment around 400) should step down to Class A and sweep it! what sort of challenge is that? What are you telling your dancers when you take 2nd in AAA and then "force" them to go to AA? Take a look at Football, Totino-Grace enrollment should force them into AAA, what fun would that be for anyone? I hope the girls relish in their wins, they certainly deserve it, I think one needs to look at the bigger picture...Spring Lake Park could have opted down also but being competitive(perenal top 6 finalist similar to Chaska) they stayed up and went for the challenge! The ironic thing this year is that Chaska would have won in either class!
CLC Results:
ReplyDeleteJazz — 1. St. Cloud Tech 4; 2. Sartell 8.5; 3. Brainerd 10.5; 4. Sauk Rapids 16; 5. Rocori 20; 6. St. Cloud Apollo 23; 7. Alexandria 28; 8. Willmar 32; 9. Fergus Falls 35.
High kick — 1. Sartell 4; 2. Brainerd 8; 3. St. Cloud Tech 11; 4. Sauk Rapids 16; 5. Alexandria 22; 6. Rocori 24, 7. St. Cloud Apollo 25; 8. Willmar 29; 9. Fergus Falls 36.
Final standings — 1. Sartell; 2. St. Cloud Tech; 3. Sauk Rapids; 4. Brainerd; 5. Rocori; 6. Alexandria; 7. St. Cloud Apollo; 8. Willmar; 9. Fergus Falls.
I was at this conference meet. The Jazz standings are what they should be, I believe the judges got that right.
DeleteBut the kick? I just don't get it. It should have been Brainerd, Tech, Sartell. How can Brainerd perform even better than they did at Wayzata (where they won) and not win here? I just don't understand how the judging can be so up and down and the inconsistencies in the scoring. Not just this meet, but all of them.
Brainerd knew they couldn't win conference because of the earlier jazz DQ from December, but Tech lost the conference title by placing third in kick, and that's too bad.
That is just how this sport works. It is all subjective. You can go to a meet where all the judges love the choreography or you could go to one where they all hate it. Yeah, it sucks when you feel that a team really did not deserve the place you got, but you can not dwell on it. You need to take look at the score sheets and see what you can do better for next time.
DeleteI attended the conference meet as well and unlike the first comment, I felt that the kick placements were right on. Previous competitions do not dictate the results at subsequent competitions and that is the way it should be. Scores depend on what happens the moment that music starts, not on who your team is or who they have beat in a previous competition. I thought the judging at the CLC Championship was right on and based on the rank points in the kick portion of the competition, it appears that there were no inconsistencies in which routine should receive first place.
DeleteJust because Brainerd won an invite does not mean they would win their conference. Just because Brainerd is a AAA team that won an invite in the AAA kick category does not mean that they will not be beaten by Sartell, a AA team, at conference. AA and AAA top team are equally as good as each other.
DeleteDoes anyone know if the Eastview Showcase scores will ever be made public? I know it probably would not be until after state, but I am just curious if Chaska beat Eastview in kick. They both had strong routines but Chaska blew me out of the water. They have the best kick routine in any class this year. Absolutely amazing.
ReplyDeleteWhat teams were there? Would love to hear comments from people who were there.
DeleteWhich teams were at Eastview?
DeleteApple Valley, Blaine, Eastview, Hopkins, Chaska, Eagan, Wayzata, SLP, and Maple Grove were all there. I'll just go over what I believe the highlights were...
Delete-Apple Valley has a pretty good state kick dance. If they drill it more, I could see them taking home another 3rd place medal.
-Blaine's jazz has come a long way since the beginning of the season. It is nice to see a team improve that much.
-Eastview's jazz, in my opinion, was the best jazz of the night. So much passion and great dancers= Phenomenal dance! Their kick on the other hand... They have great kicks and precision and they dance the routine very well, but the actual dance itself was not all that great. I think people will either love it or hate it.
-Wayzata's jazz looked sloppy for being so close to sections. Not that big of a fan of their dance.
-Maple Grove's new jazz is better, but it is nothing compared to last years routine. They are probably neck and neck with Wayzata.
-Chaska stole the show! Their jazz was excellent and their kick was just, there are no words to describe how amazing it was. They will 100% sweep state this year.
I totally agree. The team of the evening was Chaska! Both dances were amazing. Their jazz better than I have ever seen before. Their dance was clean, great turns, and beautifully choreographed, one of my favorites. Their kick dance was WOW WOW WOW! They had to have won. Their kicks were wow, their choreography is wow, their formations were wow. If they were in AAA, I think they would medal in both, and even win kick.
DeleteOther evening highlight for me-
-Eastview Jazz. They danced like they LOVE what they are dancing to and it made it so wonderful to watch. Their turns were off but their choreography is great.
-MG Jazz. Love the new dance, much better than the first. Best technique of any team.
-Eastview Kick. Their new dance is entertaining. They still have some work to do on it but cute.
-AV Kick. It is a cute dance. They were sharp and clean. Nice kick technique, just lacking a little height.
I am pretty sure the all the AAA and AA state champs were among those dancing at the showcase!
It's really to bad that Chaska didn't opt to stay in AAA, being the cut to move to AAA is 1145 and they have 1042 students. This being said, I feel the same for Faribault who combines as a COOP with Bethlehem Academy, again they had 1141 students (AAA being at 1145).
DeleteEach of these teams are so talented and to be put down in AA and decide to stay there, I think was a shame. They do very well in AAA so staying in AA is almost kind of a joke.
I feel this takes away from the teams already in a very TOUGH section of 1AA.
I agree in that Chaska will sweep state in both. Congrats.
I think it is unfortunate that people discount the true talent in AA. AA has AMAZING dancers and to say Chaska will sweep is not fair to the real talent in that class. Chaska's choreography is insane, there is no question that they bring unique routines and entertaining choreography, but that is not the only component on the score sheet. Unfortunately, technique is not as celebrated in High Kick as a musical theatrical production and dizzying choreography. Regardless of who has the best kick technique and precision vs who has the best choreography, AA is so much more then what people give this class credit for. So please consider the incredible talent that exists in the true AA teams before you discount them. AA has had incredible kick and jazz routines FAR before Chaska decided to come down to AA.
DeleteThey didn't choose to go down that is where they are suppose to be if you read the coaches response and seeing them at Eastview they had the whole package including amazing technique.
DeleteWhat is a "true" AA team? All the teams in AA are "true" AA teams, otherwise they would be in a different class.
DeleteClass is determined by school enrollement. Chaska's dance team did not "decide" to have their school's enrollment at 1042 just as Wayzata's dance team does not choose to have 3000+ students. Chaska is in the class they are suppose to be in just as Sartell is in the class they are suppose to be in. Talent is not determined by class but by team.
Just to give you an idea here is the follwong enrollemnt number of some top AA and AAA school. Clearly Chaska in the correct class.
Sartell 962
Totino Grace 802
Faribault 1141
Benilde 930
Sauk Rapids 1078
Simley 973
Austin 979
Chaska 1042
Wayzata 3060
Eden Prairie 3007
Burnsville 2530
Hopkins 2070
Maple Grove 2142
Blaine 2551
Eastview 2056
I think maybe this will help you understand that there are no "true" or "fake" AA teams. Chaska's enrollment is at 1042. That is almost 2,000 kids less than, for example Wayzata. So let's set up a hypothetical situation. Chaska now has 2,000 kids less than Wayzata, but if they were to be at Wayzata's size they would have a hypothetical 2,000 more kids. In the hypothetical 2,000 kids there could be no dancer's at all. But, more likely, in that 2,000 person deficit, there could hypothetically be 40 new dancers. 40 new dancers is enough to make a whole new dance team added on to their original team. So then, a school the size of Wayzata would be able to choose which dancers are the most talented out of their huge pool of dancers, thus, creating the best team. So Chaska, with its 2,000 new students and 40 new dancers, could cut their weakest 15 dancers currently on the team and replace them 15 new (and better) dancers from their hypothetical 40, making their team even better.
DeleteThis is why classes are grouped by numbers. Numbers increase the chances of having better dancers to fill your team because the number of kids, and thus, dancers are increased. Chaska, and for example Sauk Rapids or Sartell, have similar numbers in their school and thus similar numbers of dancers to choose from. This is fair and provides for equality in competition. Equality in competition is something that we should relish and praise the MSHSL for, not criticize the MSHSL for. We especially should not criticize teams like Faribault and Chaska for coming down a class when they had no say in it and the schools were just trying to provide equality.
I am very confused by the post on February 6th. Of course choreography isn't the only component on the score sheet. I don't think that teams like Cathedral or Sartell bring the most "new" or "dizzying" choreography year after year, but they are successful teams because they succeed at every other category. So, I would not discount Chaska simply because they do have strong choreography. Have you looked at the other categories and decided how Chaska matches up to those? Kicks? Execution? I guess we'll get to see this weekend, and hopefully at state, how they rank in every category.
DeleteBy the way, what team is doing a musical theater production? I would love to see that!
I think it's not whether the judges like the choreography. People that have not been a coach or judge don't always understand that. Yeah choreography is part of it but that is only 1 small part of the scoresheet. You have to be strong in all the areas. I've seen teams with great choreo and poor technique. It's a total package.
ReplyDeleteI thought Chaska was AA this year...so why would they be competing at a competition with the top teams of AAA? And off of that, they are a strong team so why would they move down to AA when they could win AAA?
ReplyDeleteChaska is AA this year. The showcase was just a place where teams could go and get judged like an actual competition. Plus, maybe they wanted to see how they could do against AAA teams. They moved down because their enrollment went down. They were suppose to be AA last year (2011) but their athletic director gave them the choice of AA or AAA and they chose AAA. However, this year was realignment so they were forced down to AA. I believe teams can petition or ask to be moved up a class, but most teams just stay where they are assigned. No different than what Faribault goes through.
DeleteYou are always able to opt up a class if you choose to do so.
DeleteI am from Chaska and I would like to clear things up. Both comments above are correct. However class choice or opting up is not always choice of the team itself, but rather your administration. Our administration made the call for ALL sports at our school this year. So to AA we went.
DeleteExperiencing AA this year has really been a wonderful experience for our team. We have learned A LOT. And while each class does have tendencies to value difference things, they are both equally strong and closer than most realize. I believe that being in AA has strengthened our team and forced us to face what our weakest areas were as a team and improve in those areas.
I do thank all of you who believe that we are a strong team, regardless of AA or AAA. It is very flattering. Please understand that just because a team is in AA does not mean they are less talented or not as good as AAA. It just means we have a smaller school population and we are competing against those that are of like size.
Both classes are wonderful and both bring excellent dancing to MN. Throughout this season the respect for our fellow AA competitors has just continued to grow. I feel thankful we have been able to experience both classes and we thank all of those who continue to support our team. We are very grateful!
Coach Tara
To the coaches of Chaska and the Chaska Hawk Dance Team. I realize you guys may never see this, but I just wanted to say that your team is truly an inspiration. The passion your team has is unlike any other team in the state. Your jazz dance is amazing, but is does not even come close to how outstanding your kick is. After being apart of the dance team world for the past ten or so years, this was the first time I was truly in awe when watching a team perform. Every movement, even if it was just a choreographed hand, was sensational. Everything in that dance just seemed to work. Whoever came up with that routine should be very proud of themselves. It is honestly the best routine I have ever seen a dance team perform. Congratulations Chaska, you have now created a life long fan.
Delete-AAA Fan
Chaska's dance was awesome...and they deserved to win HOWEVER, stating that your AD forced all sports to go to Class AA is interesting..,so with that mentality Cathedral(enrollment around 400) should step down to Class A and sweep it! what sort of challenge is that? What are you telling your dancers when you take 2nd in AAA and then "force" them to go to AA? Take a look at Football, Totino-Grace enrollment should force them into AAA, what fun would that be for anyone? I hope the girls relish in their wins, they certainly deserve it, I think one needs to look at the bigger picture...Spring Lake Park could have opted down also but being competitive(perenal top 6 finalist similar to Chaska) they stayed up and went for the challenge! The ironic thing this year is that Chaska would have won in either class!
ReplyDeleteMSHSL shows Chaska Girls sports as follows:
ReplyDeleteAAA Basketball
AAA Cross Country
AAA Golf
AAA Volleyball
AA Hockey
AA Dance
http://www.mshsl.org/mshsl/schoolpage2.asp?school=86
just saying...