By Vernon Robison

Moapa Valley Progress

Members of the Li’l Pirates Minis Cheer squad perform a routine at the 2012 Community Dance Invitational on Monday, February 6. Photo by Vernon Robison.

Moapa Valley dancers of many different ages and styles were featured on Monday, February 6, at a Community Dance Invitational held at the Moapa Valley High School Ron Dalley Auditorium. The Invitational was hosted by the MVHS Pirate Motion Dance team.

Appearing in the Invitational program were a whole line up of local instructional dance groups and teams that had been asked to participate. Each prepared a unique dance number to perform for the evening.

The goal for the production was to showcase the wide range of dance that is taking place in the community and to provide a performance opportunity to local youth, explained Pirate Motion coach Anjie Lee. Lee said that the idea for the Invitational had come up between herself and MVHS Drama teacher, Kenna Dalley.

“Kenna and I were talking one day,” Lee told the audience just before the program began. “I was thinking about how nice it would be for us to get back to a yearly all-dance program. She was thinking about how her theatre tech team no longer gets any experience in putting on a dance performance. So the idea just grew from that.”

Dancers from the Ballet Classique school Beginning Ballet class perform “Dance of the Hours” during the Dance Invitational last week. Photo by Vernon Robison.

Members of the Pirate Motion team appeared at various points throughout the program performing a number of different dances in a mixture of combinations and groups.

The Debonettes, a group made up of former MVHS drill team members, performed a dance to Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. The group included Kay Batchelor and Audrey Johnson who were the choreographers of the dance. Also appearing were Chole Garcia, Betty Heitman, Pat Lewis and Judy Seely.

Several local cheerleading teams performed cheers and routines at the Invitational. The enthusiastic girls from the Li’l Pirate Cheer squad captured the hearts of the audience early on in the program. All three of the Parks and Rec program’s age groups made an appearance including the Tiny Tots (preschool) group, the Mini’s (K-1) and the Li’l Pirates (grades 2-5).

The MVHS varsity cheerleading squad also performed a complex routine on the stage.

The Ballet Classique school, instructed by Logandale resident Amber Applegate Leavitt, gracefully performed in two different classes. The Pre-ballet class (ages 5-7) performed a dance entitled Tambourine. The beginning Ballet class danced to the famous “Dance of the Hours”.

The Lyon Locomotion team from Mack Lyon Middle School performed a group routine followed by several artful solo dances. The distinctive solos were performed by Sidney Williams, Teresa Navaro, Rachle Lee and finally Abby Morgan.

Local favorite, St. John’s Ballet Folklorico, performed a number of traditional Mexican folk dances that were based on traditional stories and rituals passed down from one generation to another.

The Elite Dance Academy, which has been instructed by Lee since 1998, performed two routines including “Swing with Me” and “Disco Mix”.

One of the community’s “Zumba” classes, taught by Annie C. Leavitt, performed one of its high octane routines to the song “Jump In the Line” by Harry Belafonte.

The evening ended with the Pirate Motion seniors in a finale performance of

“Turn Me On”.