Greeted by the sound of applause, provided by the fans in the stands, the Fenton Adrenaline Dance Team walks out on the court prepared to perform at the Fenton v. Linden varsity basketball game on Jan.19. Unlike their other routines, senior Kasey Caswell was the one choreographed for the team rather than the coach.

“They’re doing so good with the choreography,” Caswell said. “I was a little worried that it wouldn’t look like how I envisioned it in my head, but the girls did a fantastic job at making it come to life just the way I was hoping.”

Working with the dance team was not Caswell’s first time choreographing for others. She has worked with other girls at the dance studio she attends, solos for herself, and for her MYP project.

“Kasey’s choreography is very unique and holds a lot of inspiration and meaning which is really new for the dance team,” sophomore Olivia Battaglia said. “I really like how the routine turned out. It’s something different for us and we worked really hard to perfect the dance. In the future I would be open to more choreographers. It was such a fun experience and changed up the way we dance and perform.”

Many dancers who are already on the team perform competitively alongside Caswell outside of school. Caswell isn’t on the dance team, but through recommendations from other girls, this opportunity opened up for her.

“Taylor Farrell mentioned how I am going to continue to with dance and choreography after high school to the coach, Toni,” Caswell said. “She [Toni] was the one who came up with the idea of me choreographing a dance for her team and before I knew it, there I was.”

After graduation, Caswell plans to attend Western Michigan University majoring in dance and plans to add choreographing for Adrenaline to her portfolio.

“Letting her [Caswell] choreograph was a little strange, but I also saw it as a teaching experience,” coach Toni Harris said. “I was unsure at first because I didn’t know Kasey’s style, but my girls were excited about the opportunity, so I got behind them. I had a meeting with her about all the requirements for the dance, and she has been attending practice ever since. I helped her when she would have uncertainties or when changes had to be made.”

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PHOTO Myranda Stark

One of the dancers had health factors that kept her from dancing, so Harris aided Caswell with formation changes that needed to be made.

“Working with the team was interesting because there was a variety of different dancers to incorporate,” Caswell said. “It was a challenge but in the end, it all came together and I would say that it was successful.”

This was the first time the team has had a choreographer other than Harris who also teaches for OnStage School of Dance in Holly. She took the Fenton Adrenaline Dance Team over four years ago and has been in charge ever since.

“It has been such an amazing experience working with such talented girls and being able to get a glance of what the future might be like for me,” Caswell said.