The dance team wins once again, but it was the people on the team that made the win possible.

The West Springfield Dance Team (WSDT) has been one of the best dance teams in the nation for multiple years, winning over nine national championships so far in school history. Although they have seen immense success, the WSDT members lay quiet in the roaring hallways of the school.

Seniors Iris Beckham and Ayesha Simha are both award winning members of the WSDT, yet their background in dance and time on the team are drastically different.

Beckham has been on the dance team since her freshman year and only had a small recreational dance background before starting her high school dance career.

“I did… recreational ballet at the Center of Ballet Arts, so I never did hip-hop before tryouts,” said Beckham.

Despite her previous ballet background, she believes that she has improved her technique and grew to love the hip-hop style of the dance team
“They’re really different, [ but ] I like the hip-hop community more than the technical community because hip-hop is more embracing and intimate rather than competitive, ” said Beckham.

She has not been the only person that has changed through the years, due to her four years on the dance team, she has seen members come and go and therefore has noticed a trend of change on the team.

“There are people who have different styles of dance, which makes the dynamic of the dance and the dynamic of the team change every year,” said Beckham.

Ayesha Simha, however, joined the team her senior despite her incredible background in dance.

“I have danced for 13 years. I have done hip-hop dance before. I used to go to the Movement Studio, Heartbeats Music and Dance, the Virginia Ballet Company, and my mom and I own our own dance studio, so we are very heavy on dancing,” said Simha.

Her love for dancing has even moved her to learn her dance of her cultural background.
“I have learned traditional and classical dance. I also teach kathak (A Northern Indian classical dance),” said Simha.

Although on the same team, Simha and Beckham have different views on how they want to pursue dancing in the future.

Simha wants to expand her knowledge of dance and pursue dancing at George Mason University.

“I want to minor in dance, specifically classical dance. George Mason has a great international dance program and I don’t want to be on a team, but dance more for myself,” said Simha.

Although Beckham still wants to continue dancing, she does not want to make it a priority and pursue it in school.

“I just think it’s weird to be graded on my dancing, but I might end up taking workshops or trying out for local dance groups,” said Beckham.

Regardless of their members’ backgrounds or future dance plans, the WSDT still works hard to stack national titles on their shelf.

“We practice the same routine for a really long time, usually we learn it in November and we compete all throughout the winter by going to competitions and getting feedback from local judges, so we can keep changing it. Then finally we perform the routine at nationals,” said Beckham.