After months of practice, the dance team will compete at the UDA Regional Dance Competition at Sanford’s Seminole High School on Saturday.

“We have prepared so much, to the point where we had about eight hours of dance in one day,” junior Stephanie Shaw said. “We are also having some morning practices in the days leading up to competition.”

The varsity dance team will go against seven squads in both Varsity Jazz and Pom Divisions.  The JV team will go against three other schools in the Middle School Pom Division.

“This year we are competing against teams that are four times larger than us,” Shaw said. “We originally thought we were going to be competing against teams our size, so it puts us at a disadvantage.”

In addition to competing with the school’s dance team, Shaw and freshman Alicia Ortiz will also take the stage with a local studio, Dance Mania All-Stars.

“I am kind of nervous about it because I have four routines, two for West Shore and two for Dance Mania,” Ortiz said. “So I am going to be running around a lot because I have really quick time changes in between each routine.”

The dance team has gone to the Brevard County Dance Competition in previous years but never regionals.

“Last year our only competition was County, but at this competition there are a lot of tougher teams and more competitive,” sophomore Stephanie Everest said. “The standards are a lot higher, but we are ready to take the challenge.”

By Lauren Youngson