By TRICIA HILL
After dropping dance team from Boscobel’s winter sports approximately nine years ago, it now makes a return under the leadership of Meghan Biba. As a former graduate of Boscobel High School, Biba remembers watching the former dance team perform and wanted to bring it back to the school. Biba was unable to participate in the dance program as a student at Boscobel High School as she was busy working with RC Dance and Gymnastics in Richland Center.
“I took dance classes three nights a week and I danced from six until 10:30 every night,” Biba said.
After graduating from Boscobel, Biba continued her education at UW-Richland, where she earned her associates degree in business. She then went to Winona State University where she minored in dance. Some of the dance classes she participated in included ballet, modern dance, hip-hop and much more. Biba then transferred to UW-Platteville where she received her bachelors degree.
“I was given the opportunity to coach dance teams that have now went to Nationals the last two years,” Biba said.
About five years ago, Biba started a summer dance class in Boscobel. When she started she had a group of about 15 kids and it has since grown to about 70 kids. After the success of her summer program and her schooling accomplished, Biba decided in August it was time to open her own dance studio, Shine Power Studio & Gym, LLC in Boscobel. Upon opening she signed up a group of 90 kids. Biba works with her students on cheerleading and tumbling.
Even though Biba graduated from Boscobel, she has continued to stick by her fellow Bulldog cheerleaders by choreographing their routines. It was one of the things that made Biba decide to bring the dance team back to the school.
“I wanted to get the kids involved and I wanted to give kids another option to keep them active in the school,” Biba said.
Season plans
A normal dance team would be seen competing at competitions, however, that will not be the case for the Bulldog dancers. With this being the first year, Biba wants to start off slow by having the team learn two routines and performing them at halftime of both the boys and girls basketball games.
“We will start with the two routines and maybe next year they will be able to do more,” Biba said. “We have only done two practices and they are already half way through the first routine.”
The dance team is currently learning the basic techniques so Biba can see where the skill levels of each member are. Some of her members she has worked with before, so she knows what to expect from them as the season goes on. They are working with music that is a mixture of both jazz and hip-hop and their performances will last about two minutes per routine.
“I want them to have fun but at the same time learn that it is both physical and mental work,” Biba said.
The dance team includes Morgan Ferris, Kaylee Brandes, Nicole Richter, Rachel Biba, Tianna Salzgeber, Jonah Zimpel, Adrianna Welsh, Haley Biba, Shayla Clark, Andrea Biba, and Sadie Roe. Biba would be happy to welcome more members as the season progresses, however they will not be able to learn the first routine.
“We’re more than happy to have as many kids as possible,” Biba said.
Biba’s 11-person team will have their first performance this Friday, Dec. 19, during halftime of the girls’ basketball game against Riverdale, which will start at 7:30 p.m. The team will only be performing four times during the 2013-14 season.
Once this season is completed and other students have been able to see what the dance team does, Biba is hopeful that she will bring in more members next year.
“Sometimes I think people believe they need dance skills to join and they don’t. It is something you just learn. All you need to have is a little rhythm,” Biba said.
