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Photo courtesy of Faith Lenhart.
The Vestavia Hills High School Rebelettes Varsity team scored first place at the 2020 NDA National Championship in Orlando, Florida on March 8. This was the team’s first time to place at the top.
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Photo courtesy of Faith Lenhart.
The members of the 2020 Vestavia Hills High School Rebelette varsity team.
For 18 years, the Vestavia Hills High School Rebelettes dance team has competed at the National Dance Alliance (NDA) National Championship, placing everywhere on the board except first.
This year, things changed.
In March, the varsity team made history by winning its first national championship out of 40 teams in its category from across the country. After placing fifth at preliminaries, the Rebelettes were surprised to see their score jump up three points, earning them a win over the four teams previously ahead of them. This was also the junior varsity team’s first time going to nationals, where members competed in the “game day” category with some varsity team members.
“I’m really proud,” said Faith Lenhart, the varsity team coach. “The girls worked really hard, and our goal was third. When they called all the numbers and we weren’t third, fourth or fifth, it got really exciting.”
However, the team is staying humble after the win. After taking a quick break and going through the next audition process, members know they have work to do to prepare for next year.
The high school offers many different options of dance instruction based on interest and time commitment. In the dance department, where Lenhart teaches and coaches, there’s the varsity and junior varsity Rebelettes, a dance company called Impulse and dance classes for any student to take. There’s also a dance line that performs at football games with the band, separate from the Rebelettes.
Charity Jones, the junior varsity dance team coach and another dance department teacher, oversees beginner-level courses, while Lenhart is in charge of the upper-level courses.
There are 34 girls on the Rebelettes dance teams: 21 on junior varsity and 13 on varsity.
The junior varsity members are Riley Early, Callan Elkins, Chloe Hoogland, Marie Duncan, Emma Kerby, Morgan Robison, Amelie Johnston, Merritt Flynn, Louise Fulkerson, Ella Harper, Maddie Maners, Sarah Camille Rutherford, Sarah Kaye Turner, Gracie Watson, Lotte Wambsganss, Quincy Wilson, Elizabeth Smith, Elizabeth Ann Burton, Margaret Ray, Caroline Collums and Hannah Vallely.
The varsity members are captain Mary Pricket, co-captains Kate Richardson and Abigail White, Lauren Ann Holmes, Riley Richardson, Morgan Anthony, Hayden Speegle, Maddie Robison, Luisa Horta, Abbie Stockard, Anna Bochnak, Margaret Ann Green and Maggie Evans.
Being one of these members is no easy task. The audition process is a week of clinic classes, with three days dedicated to learning a “game day” style dance, which includes a mixture of jazz, hip hop, pom and kick. The next day is to show off individual skills, and during the final day they perform the routine in front of outside judges.
Once they make the team, they immediately begin working. There’s no off-season when it comes to the Rebelettes. The teams spend all year preparing for various performances and competitions, all culminating at the NDA National Championship each March.
“As soon as we get back from nationals, they have one week and then they start clinic for the following year, then we start getting ready for a showcase,” Lenhart said.
“After auditions are over, varsity will start having practice one day a week to get ready for camp in mid-June,” Jones continued. “They get off in July. We come back to school and after school practice starts right away.”
By mid-September, the team has already learned all its routines for the competitions through the beginning of March. With that out of the way, the team gets to work on choreographing its routines for pep rallies and basketball games.
With practices two to three times a week after school, three to four mandatory choreography weekends and a period-and-a-half class time, organization and time management are key to the success of the team members.
“They have to be very organized to have the kind of schedule we have,” Lenhart said. “Some of them have jobs on top of this. Part of their class grade is ‘Do you have all your clothes? Are you dressed how you should be? Are you on time?’ That’s part of the culture and the things we want them to take away from this about punctuality and being resourceful and organized.”
Jones agreed, saying they work on teaching the girls how to be both a follower and a leader. “You can’t always be in charge and telling everyone what to do; you have to follow sometimes. At the same time, you have to learn when it’s the right time to stand up and take control.”
One unique thing about the Rebelettes is that Lenhart and Jones let the girls have a big input into their routines. Instead of the coaches “dictating” from the front, the girls get to work on the choreography, music editing and formations. Lenhart said this creates work ethic and better dedication to the team.
“It forces them to learn how to work together and get past their differences,” Lenhart said. “I’m proud of our program in that we let them have as much input into the stuff that we have. It’s their ideas. We help mold it, but we want it to be their ideas.”
That diligence has carried over to college, as Rebelette alumnae every year continue to join dance teams at Division I schools. Currently, there are at least nine members on the Auburn University Tiger Paws who are from Vestavia Hills. There have also been girls on the dance teams at the University of Alabama, the University of Mississippi and Mississippi State University in recent years.
Even if the girls choose not to continue dancing through life, they learn teamworking skills to carry them into whatever comes next.
“They come back from nationals truly as a team and are more devoted to the team and their work ethic is stronger,” Jones said. “Seeing whatever it is that clicks in them makes me feel like I’ve accomplished something; I helped them do that. It doesn’t matter what their score was or what placement they got; as long as I see that has happened, it feels like a successful trip.”
