Lighting up football games, pep rallies, and major campus events, the RE Dance Team has served as a staple of school spirit. This season, the team entered new territory. For the first time in school history, the Dance Team competed, transforming from a spirit team into a competitive program.
The decision to compete didn’t happen overnight.
The idea started to take shape during the 2023 season, when the program expanded in size. Under head coach Ms. Tess Guidry, who joined Ransom Everglades three years ago, the team gradually took on more opportunities, including performing at a University of Miami football game and training with professional choreographers at Universal Studios. With each new experience, the team moved further away from the role of a traditional sideline dance team.
Ms. Guidry said the turning point came as the team grew in both numbers and experience. When she first arrived, the team had fewer than 20 dancers. By the start of the 2025 season, the roster had grown to more than 23 dancers each semester, many with prior performance or competition experience. Combined with the introduction of an Upper School dance class — the first in over 20 years — dance began to feel more established within the Ransom Everglades community.
“With all of these performances that we had under our belts, it felt appropriate to take it to the next level,” said Guidry. She added that this season felt right because the team had the right number of dancers and the right experience to handle the demands of competition.
Stella Steinbook ’28 joined the team during her freshman year and was drawn in by its close-knit bond and unique culture When she first joined the team, the competition wasn’t part of the picture. However, as the team grew technically, competing felt a lot more natural.
“Last year we started doing more things, like dancing at a UM game and taking a class with professionals at Universal,” said Steinbook. “So when we heard that we were competing this year, we were pretty excited.”
Nati Andrade ’29, a freshman, thought joining the team would be a lot simpler. She said she thought she was signing up for a traditional school dance team that only danced at football games. When she found out the team would be competing this year, her reaction, like many other underclassmen, was a mix of excitement and nervousness.
One of the team captains, Isa Rojas Cuevas ’26, said competing had already been on the team’s mind. “We’ve been wanting to compete since last year,” she said. “We feel like we’ve improved a lot as a team, so we’re really excited for this opportunity.”
Once competition became their goal, practices changed. Rehearsals lasted longer and grew more focused. Instead of preparing short routines for football games or rallies, the team worked toward one large group dance and one smaller group dance. As time went on, schedules became stricter and expectations grew higher.
Several dancers said the biggest challenge wasn’t choreography or technique, but time. Several team members balanced Dance Team with heavy academic workloads, outside dance commitments, and other extracurricular activities, including the school musical.
The transition also required a higher level of discipline. Instead of dancing for crowds and school spirit, the team had to shift its mindset to prepare for competition. Dancers focused on timing and spacing until everything was synchronized and aligned. They helped each other remember counts and talked through mistakes together. When someone messed up, others stepped in to help. What made the season manageable wasn’t just natural talent and discipline, but the way the team worked together.
The competition routines themselves held special significance. The choreography was created by Guidry’s sisters, who worked with the team through workshops in the fall before returning in December to finalize both the large and small group pieces.
The team’s first competition took place during the last weekend of January at the Florida Dance Challenge, marking the first time the RE dance team competed together as a program. The Florida Dance Challenge is a statewide competition where teams are judged on technical precision, choreography, synchronization, and overall performance. RE placed third in each of its categories.
Steinbook said the team felt ready. “We’ve all worked super hard to put this routine together, and we were really excited to showcase it,” she said.
Flavia Contreras ’28 said the competition felt especially meaningful for dancers who had been on the team as it transitioned into competition. “Miss Tess really built this team from the ground up,” said Contreras. “From performing at football games to dancing at University of Miami games and now competing, it all felt really special.”
Contreras also pointed to the team’s dynamic as one of its greatest strengths. With dancers from every grade, the team formed a close-knit environment built on support and trust. “We have freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors, but we’re all super close,” she said. “You end up becoming best friends with people in completely different grades.”
For senior dancers, the competition marked a final moment with a program that had grown significantly during their time on the team.
Looking ahead, Contreras said the experience has made the team more confident moving forward. “Now that we understand what competition is like, I think next year will be even better,” she said. “We’ll be ready.”
