8 The Clackamas Print
Wednesday- Feb. 16. 2011
Dance a fun way to keep fi
By Kayla Calloway
Co-Editor-in-Chief
crowds cheered as we
pped out onto the floor,
I the music coursed
through my veins. The moment that
I turned around, I knew that all the
practice was worth it
This past Saturday, I performed
at the Molalla High School dance
competition along with about 13
other alums at the start of the second
round.
Alumni performances are
always crowd pleasers, something
I had known from my years on the
team. Something about seeing for
mer dancers doing what they loved
and having fun doing it was always
a highlight during the long days of
competition.
Our own alum team this year
had members from the past three
decades. Terry Shankle, the coach
of Molalla’s middle school dance
team, hailed from the class of 1977,
and she was joined by her daughter
Tessa from the 2009 class, her sister
Tracy Cox, class of 1979, and her
niece, Diana, class of2001.
The family of dancers had been
practicing together whenever pos
sible for the past month, and if
it weren’t for Tess^ I probably
would’ve made a big fool of myself
as she helped me after I had missed
several weekend practices.
Other members of the alum team
included All-State sisters Amanda
Stephens (Class of2008) and Kasey
Stafford (Class of 2001) and moth
er-daughter duo Tina and Bethany
Hawk from classes 1986 and 2010,
respectively. Tina showed the crowd
that she could still do the splits after
three kids and 25 years.
For me, the performance was
like a mmi-reumon. I got to see
some friends that I had missed since
I graduated in 2007. Tessa and I
practiced at the college in between
classes, catching up whi le we caught
our breath. Chariss Ellis, also from
the class of 2008, was a friend that
I had all but lost contact with and it
was great hanging out with her.
It was fun', of course, but prepar
ing for this performance included
long hours of repetitively count
ing through the steps, committing
them to memory and coming up
with silly names for the moves, like
“scoop that’s not a scoop” into a
“row boat.”
For some, making it to every
practice helped with this process.
But for others such as me, work
and other priorities got in the way.
Luckily, I pulled it off with mini
mal mistakes. I had forgotten how
much I loved performing in front
of a huge crowd, and even though it
is over and I’ll have to wait a year
to do it again, I’m going to try my
hardest to get back into dancing
again.
Next week, as I recuperate from
this past weekend, I’m giving up
caffeine. I started on Friday, but can
I really survive without coffee? Pick
up a copy of The Clackamas Print
next week to see.
This week’s words to live by
come from an Indian proverb: “To
watch us dance is to hear our hearts
speak.”
If you’d like to see a short video
of me practicing with Tessa Shankle
in The Print lab, please visit the-
clackamasprint.com.
-Do you have any ideas to help
others get back into shape or any
healthy recipes to recommend? E-
mail Kayla at chiefed@clackamas.
edu.
«a
Michael Bonn C/acw
Kayla Calloway, standing, dances with other alumna at Molalla High School on Fe
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Co-Design/Web Editor
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