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NBA, NFL, or Semi-pro arena football teams are very familiar to us here at The Line Up, but have you ever heard of a professional lacrosse dance team?  Enter the Atlanta Blaze Dancers!  The Atlanta Blaze Dancers are a part of a Major League Lacrosse Team in Kennesaw, GA. As a new team, the Blaze Dancers contacted us to help them create their signature uniform for their 2016 season!

A New Team Emerges

Watching football is a treasured American pastime, and if your anything like us, a favorite part of the game is getting a glimpse of the cheerleaders on the sidelines! The Arena Football League (AFL) brings a fresh dynamic to the classic american tradition with a faster paced and higher scoring game. One of its teams, the newly branded Portland Steel, is supported by the vibrant Portland Steel Cheerleaders. This enthusiastic team truly represents what it is to be the ultimate fan entity for their AFL Team!

Currently in their debut season, the Portland Steel Cheerleaders pump up their crowds for the newly re-named Portland Steel Football Team! These girls love their football team and its fans and work hard to show their support. One of the favorite memories of the season so far? On opening night, the Portland Steel Cheerleaders rallied their fans behind the football players and made their inauguration to the League a memorable one!!! The fans love the girls’ energy and amazing presence while they cheer on their long-awaited AFL Team!

"Our crowd has really rallied around the team and the dancers feed of the great energy," Rea, a member of the team, said. "Can't wait for our next home game!"

Miami University of Ohio’s Synchronized Skating Team is an entity unlike any of it's fellow collegiate programs. This program is made up of three unique teams which cover all altitudes of skating abilities at post-secondary level: Junior, Collegiate, and Senior. The University is able to recruit skaters from across the country for it's many teams, creating a one-of-a-kind program for skating.

Head Coach Carla DeGirolamo talked to us about their top-leveled Senior Team who recently went to the 2016 ISU Worlds Figure Skating Championships for the second year in a row. Only two teams from the United States are able to go each year, proving this Miami University to be a power-house for our National Synchronized Skating programs! Coach Carla's biggest challenge? Getting this team ready for their competition season in a very short period of time. With this team being able to compete at the national and international level, it is clear that her and her athletes rose to the challenge and made their season a successful one!

 

This fall, the University of Minnesota Duluth Dance Team shared their new game day look with us, and we recently caught up with them again after they competed at NDA Championships this month! The team had an amazing performance at college nationals, finishing runner up in Division II Team Performance!

Finding Inspiration in 'Revolution'

UMD Captain Melanie explained the concept behind their routine this season:

"For our dance this year our theme was queen bee, which turned into the concept of 'revolution.' We had the idea of being fierce and confident women. It was incorporated in our choreography and costumes by adding strong, sharp movements and moments where we could feed off of each other's energy. We added in a lot of team breaths to increase the intensity of our jazz section."

"The costumes have a sassy fierce look to them which completely added to our theme! The music was powerful and emphasized all the movements that we wanted to be strong, and it flowed where we wanted it to be smooth," Melanie said.

The combination of feminine lace and and bold back straps on this custom dance costume definitely portrays the fierce and confident female look they were going for!

A little over a week ago, one of our favorite customers, The Louisville Ladybirds, conquered the NDA College Championships with two very big wins: Division 1A Team Performance AND Division 1A Hip Hop. So what inspired this team to totally rule the NDA stage all weekend?  Coach Todd Sharp from the Ladybirds gave us the scoop:

The Varsity Team in their new warm ups

We had a hunch there was something special about Watertown, Wisconsin. Especially when last spring Watertown Blue Revue ordered over 140 warm up jackets for youth dancers, parents, coaches and the Varsity Dance Team! We couldn’t help but wonder what is behind that much team spirit? So when Watertown High School won the Wisconsin Division 1 High Kick Championship this year, we knew it had to be a huge accomplishment for the team and their community. 

Year after year, we have learned to expect a call from the same person immediately after the Minnesota State High School Dance Competition season ends. This year was no exception! On the Monday following the state competition, Lois Krinke, coach of the Faribault Emeralds Dance Team, reached out to us ready to start thinking about her team's next dance costume! As always, she gets the early bird prize for planning well in advance for the 2016/2017 season.

There was a time - years ago for those of us that can remember - when everyone recognized the Faribault team by their emerald green sequins and full skirts (which always included a very full white crinoline underskirt). Thankfully fashion changes, and this is no longer the case! The team excels in High Kick, where new ideas and unpredictability is essential to their success. Check out some of their costumes from past years, and see how their custom dance costumes have evolved:

This year has been full of new and exciting challenges for the Wisconsin Edge Intermediate Synchronized Skating Team. They moved into the national-qualifying division, which meant they needed to take everything up a level, from the music to the dresses!

The Music

Coach Sally-Anne told us a little bit about how they choose their music: “We play a variety of songs with different tempos, speeds, etc. during our clinics, tryouts and first few practices, and more often than not, the skaters end up helping pick their theme based on their reaction to what we play!” This year, the winner was a Bruno Mars medley! Now that they had the music, it was time to think about choreography and dresses.

It’s been a year full of surprises for Wisconsin’s Hortonville High School Dance Team! And we at The Line Up were thrilled and excited that Coach Kiara asked us to be a part of their journey this season, equipping the team with some fiery new pom uniforms for their state competition!

Coach Kiara also took some time to tell us a little more about her team: “This team is full of energy, spunk and fire. The amount of passion, heart and energy that this team displays while performing is so fun to watch.” This year, the team chose “Girl on Fire” by Alicia Keys for their song. This song highlighted the team’s passion so well that it inspired a new team motto: “This Team is on Fire”!

The Design Vision: Fire and Intensity

Hortonville’s school colors are red and black, which coordinated with their theme and new team motto perfectly. Coach Kiara said, “I knew I needed to design a uniform that matched the fire and intensity that they practice and perform with every day!” Working with The Line Up, she came up with a beautiful design that “made the flames stand out and sparkle!” A custom red flame design was printed onto the black and white garment with sublimation, and rhinestones were added for that extra flair.

Chicago Radiance Skating Club is ready to heat up the ice! This season, Coach Nicole contacted and shared with us her design ideas to style her Beginner, Pre-Juvenile and Intermediate synchronized skating teams. She had a tall order: 4 new competition dresses. Let's take a look at the results!