Since mid-September, the Barstow Knight Stars dance team has been hard at work. Performing at countless games and competing in three competitions, the team’s effort has paid off.
“This year was a great last year to be on the dance team,” explains Co-captain Amara Patel ‘24. “I am going to miss it so much next year!” Co-captain Kyanne Carlgren ‘24 echoes Patel’s statement, saying, “I love having a small team dedicated to dance and community. I love the bond we have and the friends we’ve made over time.”
The Knight Stars performed at their first game on November 28th, 2023. They continued their season throughout the winter, finally closing out the season on Saturday, February 24th at the Missouri State Championship at the Hy-Vee Arena in Kansas City, Missouri.
Their first competition was the KC Classic competition on December 9, 2023. The team performed their hip-hop routine, choreographed by Kansas City Chiefs cheerleader Ashton Thomas, and won 2nd place in their division.
Following the KC Classic, the Knight Stars traveled to St. Charles for the Fort Zumwalt North Invitational, where they took both their jazz and hip-hop routines. The St. Louis trip has become a tradition for the team, starting during the 2021-2022 season. At the competition, the team received 2nd place for hip-hop and 4th place for jazz.
Throughout the years, the dance team has made countless memories. This season in particular, however, stood out to the dancers. Patel says, “My favorite memory on the dance team is going to St. Louis with everyone. We had a good time competing, but it was also fun to hang out with everyone outside of practice.”
To conclude the season, the dance team took on State. Taking both competition routines, they secured first place in Division 1 Hip-Hop and 4th in Division 1 Jazz, along with six Academic All-State Team awards, given to Patel, Carlgren, Jayden Sampat ‘24, Story Wright ‘26, Drew Liss ‘26, and Emory Pan ‘26.
In between all the competitions, the dance team performed at the seven boys basketball home games, learning a total of nine routines that were choreographed by the dancers themselves as well as outside choreographers. Throughout the season, they performed a K-Pop routine by Pan, two hip-hop routines by Sampat, a pom routine by Patel, a hip-hop routine by Liss, a hip-hop routine by Patel and Carlgren, and a western-themed routine by Patel and Carlgren.
Thanks to the hard work at practices, the team has become stronger than ever. Patel explains, “I think the team as a whole got more confident performing after every game and competition.”
While that concludes the 2023-2024 season, we highlight the graduating seniors on the dance team. Given the team’s dissipation during COVID-19, the three graduating seniors have stuck with the team during the rebuilding process.
“I think the first couple years on the team were harder,” says Patel, “since everyone was a bit new to the high school competition world, but now we have more experience and know our strengths when performing.”
As we look to next year, the team is looking forward to welcoming new members. If you or someone you know is interested, reach out to a dancer on the team, their coach Krista Logan, or the dance team’s Instagram account (@barstowdanceteam). We wish the Barstow Knight Stars Dance Team the best of luck in the 2024-2025 season!
