On November 5, two members of Forté competed at the ISDTA (Iowa State Dance Team Association) Solo Competition. Forté is Pella High’s dance and drill team which is made up of nine members. The members that competed were juniors Brynn VanderBeek and Journey Reynolds. The competition is split into classes I-VIII, Pella is class V. The girls performed in front of a crowd and judges, and judges give them feedback concerning their strengths and weaknesses.

It was Reynold’s second year to compete. She performed a lyrical solo to the song “I Can’t Make You Love Me” by Bonnie Raitt covered by Adele. Reynolds loves watching all of the hard work coming together and seeing all of the different styles of dances at competitions.
“Taking the first step onto the stage is an indescribable feeling. My heart is always

beating a million miles an hour, but once the music starts, everything stops. It is almost like being frozen in time when all eyes are on you,” said Reynolds.

This was the first year for Vanderbeek to perform at the Solo Competition. She performed a jazz routine to the Michael Buble version of the song “Feeling Good.” She thought her routine was very fun because she loved the song and she loves jazz.

“My favorite part of competing was getting to watch all of the other dancers in my division and also getting to show the judges all of the hard work that I put into my routine,” said VanderBeek.

VanderBeek started rehearsing for the solo competition in August and would practice a couple times a week. The weekend before the competition, the girls also had a dress rehearsal. Both girls scored a division 2 rating.

“After it is all over, I can’t help but smile,” said Reynolds, “all of the hard work and effort put in both during and outside of practice is truly shown off in the performance.”

There also was a competition for all of Forté on December 2. So this year Forté was competing in 3 routines: Flags, Military, and Pom. For Military their class is called “Large School Military”. For Pom they are Class XI (Class 11) Pom, and or Flags they are Class II (Class 2) Small School Colorguard.

Gabi Criscuolo, [email protected]