Featuring five of Brookfield Central’s own Lancer dancers, the Senior All-Stars dance troupe at the Brookfield Center for the Arts are preparing to compete at the 2017 Dance Worlds Championship. The All-Stars are back from five weeks of national competitions, and came out with a partial paid bid to the Worlds competition. Between April 29 and May 1, this talented group, numbering thirteen in total, will compete on the stage in Orlando against teams from around the globe.
Representing the team, Kathryn Lazar (‘18) was willing to share some points about their season and their upcoming competition.

Q: So, I’m not a dancer – can you give us a general background of what goes on in this dance troupe?

A: We’re the Senior All-Star team at Brookfield Center for the Arts, which is a pretty new studio. We start our season in May and dance all year. Our first competition is usually around November, and then it really kicks into high gear in February and March. This year we just had five competitions in five weeks, almost all out of state, so it was really hectic and crazy. After March, our standard competition season is over and the younger teams at the studio end their seasons, but we have Worlds practices. Worlds is what it sounds like, the global dance championships in Orlando, Florida. Teams compete all year to qualify up to four routines.

Q: And what about your teammates? How are they?

A: They’re more like family than anything. Everyone is so weird and absolutely crazy. It’s like having embarrassing sisters that everyone always stares at in public places, but I love them all so much.

Q: So is this troupe mostly Brookfield Central students?

A: Well there’s five of us [out of thirteen]. There’s Kathleen Flatley (‘18), she’s one of the most supportive people on the team. She’s always helping everyone out and I can come to her with anything. There’s Caroline Tollar (‘20), who I only got to know this year, but it feels like I’ve known her forever. She’s a freshman, but you’d never be able to know. McKenna Popek (‘20) is another freshman I’ve gotten to know this year, [and] she’s without a doubt one of the funniest people I’ve met. And Makenna Shafer (‘18), who I’ve known since Kindergarten. She’s an absolutely amazing dancer, and a great friend. Everything I’ve done as a dancer, she’s been there too.

Q: And now you guys are getting ready for Worlds? How is that experience?

A: Well, [after the national competitions] it’s only week one out of six before we leave for Florida, but it’s already intense. We have four routines we need to fix up and get looking their best, and six weeks isn’t a lot of time to do it. It’ll be intense, and scary. But we’re all excited to have some downtime from traveling to work hard and get stuff done!