MaeleeSmith

Being a competitive dancer is no joke. The Marian Dance Team, coached by Faith Wanninger, practices four times a week, usually on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings, Friday after school and Sunday afternoons. Each year, they learn two new competitive dances, a jazz and a pom dance, as well as two to three additional dances to perform at pep rallies and football games for Creighton Prep and Mount Michael. 

This is Wanninger’s first season as the school’s dance coach. She was part of the Husker Scarlets Dance Team at UNL until she graduated in 2024. Now, she balances working as a real estate agent and coaching dance.

“Coaching has always been a dream of mine, so I’m incredibly grateful Marian took a chance on me,” Wanninger said. 

The dance team has been putting in the work to make their season as successful as possible. Learning a dance can take two to three days, which is about 15-20 hours.

“I think this year has been going really well. I’ve learned so much about what works and what doesn’t, so I can continue to grow as a coach,” Wanninger said.

Freshman Clare Oxley is a member of the varsity dance team this year. Beyond that, she also dances on the Senior Team at No Limits Dance. One of the biggest reasons Oxley joined the dance team was to make friends before high school started. 

“I have been having so much fun and I would say the girls on the dance team are some of my best friends, and I just met them this year,” Oxley said. 

According to Oxley, a dance can be easy or hard to learn. Her favorite type of dance is pom because she said she has a lot of fun performing it. 

“We have been very successful so far at all our competitions and overall we are a strong team and working towards improvement,” Oxley said. 

As their season continues, the dance team hopes to be victorious in their upcoming big competitions.

“I am beyond proud of this team and the progress they’ve made. From tryouts last year to now, they’ve grown so much both physically and mentally,” Wanninger said.

The team left for Nationals on Jan. 27 in Orlando, and the competition will take place on Jan. 30-Feb. 1. Later in the month, on Feb. 21, the team will be competing in the state competition.