By VERNON ROBISON
Moapa Valley Progress
The Moapa Valley High School Pirate Motion Dance Team held its 2015 Dance Revue program on Thursday night to a packed audience in the Gary Batchelor Gymnasium. The theme of the evening was “One of a Kind,” a message which accentuated the unique characteristics, talents and beauty of each of the nine dancers on the team.
As a team, the dancers performed no less than eight ensemble pieces that spanned many different styles of dance. Each routine was choreographed by a different member of the community which worked with the team on broadening that part of their repertoire.
The team showed careful precision in a military style dance to the theme from “Iron Man,” choreographed by Logandale resident and dance instructor Amber Leavitt.
The more free-wheeling Hip Hop style was exhibited in “Monster Mix,” choreographed by Logandale resident Keshia Phillipenas.
Former Pirate Motion member Rachel Dalley choreographed the Pom Dance “Stand Down” as well as the Lyrical dance “Don’t Let Me Go.”
Pirate Motion coach Anjie Lee said that she had brought in the guest choreographers to bring a variety of techniques to the team and a dimension of expertise to each dance style.
“I chose each of them because I knew they were experts in that style,” Lee said. “It was good that the girls could work in each dance with people who really knew that style inside and out.”
In addition, many of the routines performed by the team were choreographed by the girls themselves. “Trouble Makers,” performed to showcase the four seniors on the team this year, was choreographed by seniors Katie Frehner and Jayden St. John. The vibrant dance “Hip, Hip, Chin, Chin” was choreographed by junior Rachle Lee.
The Pirate Motion team was joined by several guests in the program. They hosted the Virgin Valley VV ettes team, dancing several numbers together with the Virgin Valley dancers and giving the team a spotlight moment on the program for their own performance.
The “Debs from the Past” group featured MVHS Dance team members from years gone by. Master of Ceremonies Matt Messer explained that the local school’s dance squad had once been known as “The Debonettes.” That name was changed to Pirate Motion in 1987.
Other guest groups included participants of various ages from the Pirate Motion Dance Camp which took place earlier last week. The Pirate Motion JV team made an appearance with a dance set to music from Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana. The Lyon Middle School Locomotion Team made a guest appearance. And the Boy Motion team, made up of the escorts chosen by each of the team members, did a spirited routine led by a smoking solo by Ivan Parra.
In the final dance of the evening, the girls dressed in formal gowns were joined by their escorts and performed a ballroom dance in a Fox Trot style choreographed by Anjie Lee.
Awards were presented at the end of the evening. The awards were chosen by vote from the members of the dance team. Escort of the Year was awarded to Brandon Muns. Junior Autumn Udall was recognized as Rookie of the Year. Veteran of the Year went to senior Jayden St. John. Junior Rachle Lee was recognized as Best Choreographer. Lee also won an award for Best Technique. The Most Spirited award went to senior Katie Frehner. And the award for Dancer of the Year went to senior Keypher Bullock.
