Vintage Video - St. Cloud Tech Kick 1998

Its time for a vintage video review!  This is one of the all time classics.  This one had to be first because it was the reason I fell in love with kick - way back at State '98.  It was my first state tournament and boy did I have no idea what it was "supposed" to look like.  I think the shine of seeing it live has kinda worn off (and when there weren't all the good dances I've seen in the last 13 years to watch) but there won't ever be another dance that was "the one" so I'll always have a special place in my heart for this one.  Comments on the dance:
- Those costumes, while a little strange, are probably my favorite of the "skater skirt" era. 
-they have a sharpness in their shoulder movements that is lacking today - we should bring that back.  But I think we can all live without those "weenie walks" (as my old coach used to call those shoulder hit walking steps)
- the kicks hold up to today's standards I think - nice angles of what is "open" and what is "front"
- wow that transition by hinges out of straightline is actually a lot harder than you would guess...I've seen something like that go wrong more often than not - impressive
- oh yeah, arm breakdown.  Don't see that anymore.  (well, not much anyways)
- this dance is 4:18.  Oh my.  Talk about legs going to fall off...no wonder there was an arm breakdown - you need the rest! 

Classic, Happy Hardcore, Skater Skirts -  need I say more?!

Get the songs from this mix below on Amazon:

Welcome To Something New!

Welcome dance team fans to your new home for all things MN dance team right here at http://www.mnhsdanceteam.blogspot.com/!  This is something new for dancers, coaches, parents, and fans from all across Minnesota looking for the dance team coverage that is lacking in today's media. This new venue will be a location for scores, meet schedules, upcoming events, live coverage of competitions as they happen, videos, product reviews, advice articles, and coverage of topics relevant to anything high school dance team. 

History:  Things all began at State 2011, when I was busy coaching my final season at Cannon Falls High School and writing a guest article for John Milea over at MSHSL covering the state event.  I had a lot of fun and tons of positive feedback about the coverage and the idea to continue doing something to further dance team sports coverage was born.  However I didn't want to take the role of simple scores reporting as I am not a newspaper journalist and most sports reporters simply don't know or don't care anything for dance team to help publish articles.  I thought we should have something of our own as a community to continue to grow, learn, share, and connect in meaningful ways as the unique world we really are - not as something a newspaper or the MSHSL would make us to be. 

Content:  You can expect to find daily, weekly, and monthly updates on competitive events, results, featured teams and what they're up to, reviews of vintage dance team videos, and articles on current topics for dancers, parents, and coaches alike.  There will be live coverage of major competitions and the state tournament as they go on, providing a unique level of detail not seen in other outlets.  Interviews, photos, and new video will be posted to keep you up to speed on the current season.  Sign up for regular email updates or to post comments of your own on articles to continue the conversations.  Email in photos for our weekly photo contest for the best of the best in action photography of the dancers. 

Can't wait to get started!  See you on the dance floor!

-Coach Erin