Pirate Motion Dance Camp, Revue full Of Energy

By GABRIELLE SHIOZAWA

Moapa Valley Progress

This year’s Pirate Motion Junior Dance Camp and subsequent Dance Revue were lively, fun-filled activities that brought the community together. The camp, led by Coach Anjie Lee for the past eight years, serves as a fundraiser and a way to train future generations of Pirate dancers. Revue is a Pirate Motion tradition that allows the girls to conclude their season with a bang.

The Junior Dance Camp took place over the course of three days last week. Its attendees ranging in age from grades K-5 were taught moves that were choreographed just for them by the Pirate Motion team.
“It’s cute to see the little girls try their hardest to learn the dances,” dancer Caressa Solis said. “It’s fun to watch them enjoy themselves.”

Clairi Frei is an 11-year-old who hopes to join the Pirate Motion Dance Team someday. “I like seeing other people dance, and I like to have fun with dancing,” Frei said.

Lee said that the camp is fun for all the girls, both older and younger. “It’s just fun to see the little kids have so much fun doing it, and it’s a lot of fun for the older girls, also, to be able to choreograph and be a teacher,” she said.

The camp culminated in an exciting opportunity for the young dancers to perform alongside Pirate Motion at their annual Dance Revue performance on Saturday night.
This year’s theme for the Revue was ‘Dance is our home.’

“Dance is like a second home to the girls because we all get so close over the space of four years,” said MVHS senior Olivia Williams, who created the theme. “We spend a lot of hours together; this theme shows how much we love each other and how we love to dance.”

The program for the night included several old favorites mixed in with new acts. Pirate Motion performed military, hip-hop, disco, pom and lyrical-style dances. Each dance was choreographed by local artists; many were designed by the girls themselves.

In between these classics, the Junior Dance Camp attendees showed off the moves they’d learned. The Debonettes, a team of MVHS alumnae dancers, and Lyon Locomotion, the middle school dance team, also performed.

Following tradition, the Pirate Motion dancers had an escort to perform a waltz and a swing dance with them. This year, however, had a special twist: the boys had the dance floor all to themselves for a few minutes as they formed “Boy Motion.”

Another addition was the Revue’s first-ever musical number. MVHS students Sam Jolley and Coy Overson performed a piano and violin duet of “Lovely” by Billie Eilish and Khalid.

First-year dancer Celeste Jorgensen said that she was so glad she made the leap to try out for the Pirate Motion team.
“I’ve made so many close relationships, and I’ve learned a lot from everybody, and I just love it,” Jorgensen, a sophomore, said. “I’m excited to keep dancing with my friends, and I’m looking forward to Revues to come.”