Fashion show features school's dance team

By EMMILY N. BRISTOL

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Green Valley High School's Dance/Drill Team will strut its stuff for a good cause when it performs three pieces in a holiday fashion show at the Galleria at Sunset mall from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday.

"The team promotes local events in Green Valley and Henderson. To me, they represent the youth in our area," said Ginger Rositer, dance coach.

Rositer said she tries to give the team opportunities to get involved with the community. Her team already performs at school events such as basketball games and with the award-winning marching band.

The team got involved with the fashion show through its coordinator and producer Lynn Mullin, whose daughter is in one of Rositer's classes.

The Gator dance coach said any chance for team members to perform helps them do better in all levels of competition. Three years ago, when she took over as coach of the team, she wanted to raise the bar.

Rositer said before she came to the team, the girls hadn't really performed at a competitive level.

In the past year, the girls have participated in several contests, including the Miss Dance Drill Team USA Pageant in Long Beach, Calif. In March, the team will be competing in the invitation-only United Dance Association national contest at Disneyland.

At a University of Nevada, Las Vegas, summer dance drill camp, the team took home first-place trophies in two divisions. One trophy was for superior dance performance, which was the result of collecting the most blue ribbons of any team; the second was the drill down award.

"This is a wonderful team. Their levels of discipline are very high," Rositer said.

The praise goes both ways.

Many of the dancers say that while Rositer's expectations are high for the team, the experience is enjoyable.

"She expects a lot, (but) I've had a lot of fun," said dance team officer Natasha Kulis.

Nicolette Rivera-Miller, a first-year team member and junior said, "This is the best team Green Valley has had in a long time -- technically speaking."

The 17-member team includes five freshman, three sophomores, three seniors and six juniors.

Thursday's holiday fashion show will feature the Gator Dance Team, models between the ages of 5 and 14, a bid auction and intermission games. Proceeds from the show, which is sponsored by Starz Entertainment, will be donated to Safe Nest.