Mehlville Pantherettes Earn National Ranking at Competition

Performing in an arena that has hosted acts such as KISS and Chicago can be a challenge. Add that to performing in front of and against the top 50 dance teams in the nation, and the challenge becomes daunting.

However, the Mehlville High School Pantherette dance team rose to the occasion and are now ranked on the national level in the jazz and hip-hop categories.

In fact, one judge wrote on their scorecoard, “They want it so badly and I can feel it.” 

The Hard Rock Live in Orlando, FL was transformed Saturday and Sunday into the National Dance Alliance Dance Team Championship competition featuring the best dance teams from across the nation.

The Pantherettes fundraised all season and competed at the regional and state levels, traveling to nationals for the first time. After qualifying for the finals on Saturday, they performed their two routines in the jazz and hip-hop categories on Sunday.

The squad placed seventh in hip-hop and eighth in jazz overall, making them the seventh and eighth best in the nation in the two categories. The Pantherettes competed against 30 squads in both dances, making it to the final performances.

“What was really cool about both dances is that we raised our scores from prelims to finals in both of them,” said Coach Sarah Roth. “They (the girls) were really excited. There were only five teams out of the whole competition to qualify in both dances.”

Roth said the final dances were the girls’ best performances of the year.

“They just killed it, it was the best I’ve ever seen them do it,” she said.

Although the house was packed and competition fierce, Roth said the atmosphere was positive.

“Every team sounded like they had so many fans—you don’t walk by a team without saying ‘good luck’ or ‘good job,’” Roth said. “It was just really cool coming out of Missouri competing; they were wowed by some of the stuff they saw and the overall positive attitude of the entire weekend.”

After the preliminary jazz performance, the team found out they had made it to the final round. They still had their hip-hop dance to perform, and the added confidence improved the routine, according to Roth.

It was jazz where Roth had the least amount of confidence, knowing that the hip-hop routine was the group’s strength. The teams go into finals with a rank, and the Pantherettes were put seventh in both dances.

Although they improved their scores in the finals, the jazz routine fell to eighth place, while the team kept their ranking in hip-hop.

For their first time competing at the national level, Roth said the placing was exceptional.

“This year was the trial year to see how things went and every single girl asked if we could come back next year,” she said. “I wanted to make this a team that competes nationally every year.”

The squad is having tryouts next week, and with only losing three seniors, Roth could have a lot of talent to chose from.

“There’s a lot of talent coming in,” she said. “Our goals next year will be not only to place in both again, but to get higher.”