Roland-Story at state dance competition

By Isabel H.

Every year, Roland-Story’s color guard travels to Wells Fargo to perform at the Iowa State Dance Team Association (ISDTA) State Color Guard Competition. Roland-Story’s color guard consists of 12 girls, coaches Jennifer and Kevin Masemann, manager Jori Witthuhn, and assistant choreographer Lauren Hansen. Talented performers from all over the state come to showcase their skills in both group routines and solos. All of the performers put countless hours into their routines--choreographing, practicing, and perfecting every last detail in hopes of taking home first place. 

Two Roland Story soloists were able to perform at state this year. These were senior Emma McGuigan and sophomore Kaylee Koppes. Emma placed fourth overall in class 1A and Kaylee placed fifth. Every soloist is extremely talented. Not only do they have to perfect their routine, but they also have to create their whole routine themselves. This year ISDTA changed how they do solos. Instead of everybody getting to perform if they want to, they held a competition before State exclusively for those doing solos, and only those who placed in the top 10 were able to perform at State. Kaylee Koppes originally missed the top ten mark, but was given a second chance when a solo was pulled because of an injury. She ended up getting bumped up six places with only two days of practice, which is astounding.

Roland-Story’s group routine performed to the song “Test Drive” by John Powell and involved all 12 girls in color guard. This year, Jennifer Masemann went out of her comfort zone and tried a new style for the routine for the first time in her many years of being the color guard coach. This involved using more equipment than previous years, including five-and-a-half-foot poles, six-foot poles, and also rifles. By expanding the horizon and learning new skills, the group can score higher. The group ended up placing second overall in class 1A, 1.5 points behind Aplington-Parkersburg. Overall, the whole team was very proud of how they did and they are looking forward to performing again next year.

Location: 233 Center St, Des Moines, IA 50309, USA

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