Dream Team Of Dancers Troupe Of Girls Practices To Perform In Atlanta

Twenty Inland Northwest girls will jump hurdles, shoot hoops and turn cartwheels at the Summer Olympics.

Although they won’t actually be going for gold, Janet Wilder, director of The Academy of Dance, is putting the pressure on the girls to dance like pros during their time in the national spotlight.

For a rehearsal this week, she asked them to wear shirts over leotards so they’d get used to dancing while overheated in Atlanta.

“It’s killer humidity,” she warned. “You need to make yourselves warm and uncomfortable.”

The Academy of Dance group was invited to perform at Coca-Cola Olympic City, a 12-acre amusement park only blocks from the Olympic Village.

The dance troupe will give one 15-minute performance with an Olympic theme and four shorter routines during a four-day stay this month.

Olympic athletes and coaches will put on demonstrations in the same amusement park.

Kate Pospisil, 14, said she’s thrilled to be performing in Atlanta. “I think it’s the coolest thing in the world,” she said.

Another dancer, Genvieve Fernandez, 15, said she can’t wait to see people from all over the world. “I’m so stoked, like so excited,” she said.

Some of the dance students raised the more than $1,000 each needed for travel expenses by holding bake and garage sales.

Sabrina Waddell, 15, said the fund raising took time. “It’s hard work.”

The dancers are perfecting their performances by working together three afternoons a week at The Academy of Dance in the Spokane Valley. Some are putting in many more hours, though.

For example, Fernandez practices dance five mornings a week at a workshop in addition to the Olympic practice sessions.

For the petite brunette, dance helps her display her creativity and love of classical music. “I can express how I feel about music,” Fernandez said.

One of the Olympic troupe’s recent afternoon practices involved more endurance than art.

Wilder reminded the girls dressed in leotards, tights and ballet slippers to stand up straight, smile and not look tired, even after hours of practice.

Their style is a mix of ballet split leaps, modern dance moves and gymnastics.

Wilder clapped her hands as she counted the music’s beat for the dancers, sometimes interjecting advice.

“Now, walk on the balls of your feet, girls,” Wilder ordered. The dancers acquiesced.

In their routine honoring the Olympics, they mimic athletic maneuvers with dance movements.

The routine starts with a mock warm-up and then the dancers feign synchronized swimming, gymnastics, track events and a basketball game.

“It really has to be synchronized if we’re going to look like synchronized swimmers,” Wilder reminded the girls.

The dancers will continue the rehearsals until they leave for Atlanta on July 27.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color photo