Dance team: YME continues its legacy at state
Feb. 15—MINNEAPOLIS — The Yellow Medicine East Silhouettes already have added to their legacy as one of the state's elite dance team programs.
They won the Section 3A titles in jazz and high kick to earn their 28th consecutive trip to the state tournament. Now, they'd like to add to their collection of championship trophies, which stands at seven.
YME gets its chance to do that starting at 11:15 a.m. Friday at the Target Center. It's when the Class A jazz preliminaries get underway. The Sting are up third of the 12 teams that have qualified for state. They'll dance to "Illuminate," and upbeat number performed in brilliant red uniforms. The jazz team's captains are Lauren Fagen, Nicole Rillo, Riley Streich and Kindal Meyer. The Silhouettes will have 12 dancers perform.
YME also participates in the Class A high kick division at 11:15 a.m. Saturday. Like Friday, the top six teams advance to the finals at 5:30 p.m. with the top three getting trophies.
YME took third last year and is aiming high.
"I'd take nine (state championships), too," said YME assistant coach Christina Nerdahl.
Also competing Friday and Saturday in the state tournament are the New London-Spicer Blackcats, the Lac qui Parle Valley/Dawson-Boyd Shadows and the Montevideo Gold Dusters.
In Section 3A, YME took first in both divisions, LQPV/D-B was second and Montevideo was third. During the season, YME and LQPV/D-B were neck and neck at competitions, trading the top spots.
LQPV/D-B is dancing to "A Love Letter to Ari" for its jazz performance. The Shadows will have 10 dancers. They perform 11th. LQPV/D-B took second in state last year.
Montevideo dances to "Hold My Hand" in jazz. They'll have 12 dancers. Captains are Kiya Blom, Sienna Gilbertson, Madyson Kling, Maggie Kling, Aubrey Norman and Brenna Winters. The Gold Dusters are the eighth team up on the Target Center floor.
On Saturday, YME will have 20 dancers perform for high kick. Their performance song is "All You Need is Love," which is a mix of love-related numbers. Captains for high kick are Brianna Hempel, Kiara Sakry, Mia Ochoa and Kiley Meyer. The Silhouettes perform 12th, which is the last position.
"It's something us coaches came up with at the end of last year," said Nerdahl, who is part of a coaching staff that includes head coach Ashley Balfany, Sami Halovrson and Julie Janisch.
LQPV/D-B will have 18 dancers performing in high kick to "It's Still Rock and Roll to Me." LQPV/D-B is ninth up to perform. Coaches are Carly Wager, Aaliyah Schommer, Hope Trager and Caitlyn Baird.
Montevideo has 21 dancers for its high kick performance of "Time of Our Lives." Coaches are Amanda Macziewski, Amanda Blom and McKenzie Vandelanotte. Montevideo is up third for high kick.
LQPV/D-B won state Class A jazz and high kick championships in 2021, '20, '19. YME's state titles were in jazz in 2014 and '13, high kick in '08 and in jazz/funk in '03, '02, '01 and '00.
Montevideo won state titles in '02, 1999, '98 and '95 for high kick/precision and an overall state titles in 1994, '93 and '92.
