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Hazelwood West Wildcat Rockettes Perform at Memphis’ Liberty Bowl
Hazelwood West Middle School Wildcat Rockettes performed on New Year’s Eve during half-time at AutoZone Liberty Bowl
The Wildcat Rockettes, a dance team from Hazelwood West Middle School, performed during half-time at the AutoZone Liberty Bowl in Memphis, Tennessee on New Year’s Eve.
“Last year was the first year we had a dance team at the middle school basketball games,” said Kelly Pearce, a sixth-grade teacher and the team’s sponsor. “At the end of the year, I received a call from the Bowl Games of America, saying someone referred our team to them for consideration and would we be interested in performing at one of the college bowl games?”
The answer was an emphatic “Yes.”
“We just picked the bowl game closest to St. Louis, which is the Liberty Bowl,” Pearce said. “The team will dance to a medley of songs, including ‘Love Train’ from the O’Jays and ‘Money’ by Pink Floyd. I’m excited. I think it’s a great opportunity for them. It’s one that will not come up every day. I hope the trip sparks their interest for when they are in high school and they might go out for poms or dance there.”
Two of the Wildcat Rockettes expressed their enthusiasm proir to the trip and what they enjoy about dance.
“I’m really excited and grateful that I’m getting the opportunity to dance with other students from around the country and getting to meet them,” said eighth-grade student Ciara Chang.
“What I like most about dancing is that you get to express yourself without words and that’s especially helpful when you’re like me; you sometimes have trouble using your words to describe how you feel,” said Chang. “But really I love everything about dancing – feeling happy, the freedom and sometimes challenges you have to face when learning something new and its healthy for you, how can you not love that?
“I have been dancing since I was little. I don’t take classes; it’s part of my family – I’m Hispanic,” she said. “I can’t remember a time in my life that I haven’t heard Latin music booming throughout the house on weekends and my mom and I dancing or singing to it. My mom got me into dancing; she taught me every Latin dance that I know – salsa, meringue, bachata, cumbia and more. I will try out for the high school dance team next year and I hope I make it.”
“I am very excited that our dance squad gets the opportunity to attend; it’s probably a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” said seventh-grade student Kayla Foust. “In dance, you can be yourself and you get to just put all your emotions into it. I’ve been dancing for about eight years.”
Pearce said the trip was financed by money from school fundraisers. In addition to performing at the game, the dance team performed as part of a parade on Beale Street on Dec. 30.
