On March 6-8, the All Berkshire Dance Team, coached by Kimberly Massimiano, competed at Leap! National Dance Competition in Lowell, MA. The All Berkshire Dance Team senior group includes three Mount Greylock Students: senior Emily Sabin, freshman Patty Thistle, and freshman Emma Szalewicz, as well as three Herberg Middle School Students: Haley Mazzeo, Alexis Depson, and Hailey Widdison. Also in the senior group is: Aliyha Eichhorn from McCann, Aleksandra Tsangarides, Greer Hines, and Ashley Pollard from Wahconah, and Jordynne LaCasse and Victoria Skubel from Taconic High School.

The Senior group performed a total of eleven routines. All the routines were judged by a star system. Dances could receive anywhere from two to five stars. Emily Sabin’s lyrical solo titled Human placed four out of five stars. Patty Thistle’s modern/contemporary solo, I’ll be Seeing You and Haley Mazzeo’s jazz solo Extraordinary both placed four stars. Aleksandra Tsangarides lyrical solo Yesterday also placed four stars. Sabin and Hines performed a modern/contemporary duet, A Thousand Years, which placed four stars and Mazzeo, Sabin, and Hines performed a jazz trio A 1920s Party that placed three and a half stars. Group dances included modern/contemporary Angels Protect danced by Thistle, Sabin, Pollard, Tsangarides, and Mazzeo that placed four stars. Believe danced by Szalewicz, Depson, Eichorn, and Widdison placed four stars and placed third overall in the Small Group Division.  Hip Hop routine, Surviv-her performed by Mazzeo, LaCasse, Thistle, Skubel, and Sabin placed four stars. Story of a Bully, a modern/contemporary routine danced by Pollard, Szalewicz, Hines, Tsangarides, Eichorn, Depson, and Widdison placed four stars. Jazz routine Gonna Get Over You danced by Sabin, Thistle, LaCasse, Mazzeo, and Skubel.

All Berkshire Dance Team coach Kimberly Massimiano was thrilled with the results of the competition. “I am very pleased with the team’s performance at the Leap! National Dance Competition. They danced with their hearts and it showed. As a coach, I want my girls to step out on the stage with confidence, power, and enthusiasm and that’s exactly what I saw. The team brought their best to Leap and I am very excited for a successful finish to the season.”

Dancer Greer Hines, talked about how much ABDT meant to her. “Over the past seven months, our team has gotten so close. We are like a family now. I always look forward to competitions and practices. I love my team because we have so much fun together and we are all so supportive of each other!”