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Mollie Sylvestre: Choreographer & Teacher at Dance Arts Centre and Co-Founder of Matrixx Pro

Wondering about dance careers after high school?  The options abound, but for many the first things that come to mind include auditioning for a college dance team, majoring in dance in college, or making the bold move to become a professional dancer.

But there are other, sometimes less conventional, options as well!  This week we're sharing stories from nine passionate dancers that found ways to keep dancing after high school. Check out their inspirational stories!

Check out some awesome photography by MN Prep Photo from the recent Minnesota State High School League's 2017 State Dance Team Tournament!  

A few trends we spotted?  Plenty of sequin lace, jewel tones, and romantic looks still rule for jazz costumes.  

For kick, leggings are still the favorite to emphasize lines!  But we loved spotting a few costumes that pushed genres like St Charles' football kick routine with a hip hop edge, and Chaska's Odyssey themed high kick costume with a jazz feel.  

Here are a few of the teams we were proud to have outfitted with their #LineUpLook:

Competition season officially came to an end last weekend for our Wisconsin high school dance team friends, at the the 2017 WACPC State Dance Championships!  If we can say anything definitive about these lovely teams, it's that they KNOW how to do custom costumes! Brightly colored Pom uniforms, edgy High Kick costumes, flowy Jazz costumes, and innovative Hip Hop looks - there's a wide variety in Wisconsin!

Check out a few of the teams we were proud to have outfitted with their #LineUpLook:

Team: Ohio State University Dance Team
Coach: Melissa McGhee
Location: Columbus, Ohio
Choreographer: Ricky Ruiz
Consultant: TRIBE 99
Style: Collegiate Dance Team

Team: St. Cloud State University Dance Team
Coaches: Morgan Hanenberger and Megen Rosvold
Location: St. Cloud, Minnesota
Style: Collegiate Dance Team 

Team: North Dakota State University Dance Team
Coach: Meghan Wabner
Location: Fargo, North Dakota
Style: Collegiate Dance Team - Pom, Jazz, and Gameday
Choreographer: Tribe 99

Team: Sheboygan North High Dance Team
Coaches: Kayla Pittner & Betsy Klauck
Location: Sheboygan, Wisconsin
Style: High School Dance Team

Dance Arts Centre dancers huddle before a performance.

We've asked some of our coaching friends to share their unique insights with you for this new series: EXPERT COACHING TIPS. In case you missed it, last time we talked about coaches' most important lessons learned!

This week, we're talking about leadership. The dance team coaches we talked to know that it's important not only to be a great leader for their dance teams, but also to establish leadership within their team. See what they had to share, below! 

University of Michigan Dance Team in the Jupela! (Photo via m.goblue.com)

If you're a member of the dance community, we have a feeling you (like us!) were live streaming UDA College Nationals this weekend! We were blown away by all the incredible talent - technique, skills, precision, and costume design get more and more impressive every year!! 

UDA College Nationals are always a source of inspiration for choreography and costumes, and we find the trends for high school dance line usually start here!  While we watched, we made note of a few repeating themes in regards to costume design.  We can't take credit for all of these costumes and trends, but here are a few of our favorites!!

Team: Valley City Hi-Lites
Coach: Megan Gilbertson
Location: Valley City, North Dakota
Style: High School Dance Team