Five members of the Panorama Dance Team qualified for the Class III State solo competition to be held Dec. 3-5 at the Casey’s Center in Des Moines. The Panthers produced nine soloists in the competition in Newton last Friday with all nine receiving Division I ratings. Competing at the Iowa State Dance and Drill Team contest will be, from the left: Addison Wagner, freshman; Maci Bauer, junior; Nella Rivas, sophomore; Hadley Fitch, junior; Cali Knudsen, sophomore; and Kathy Enyart, executive director of the ISDTA. Panorama is one of only three schools in the state to qualify five soloists in its respective class size. This is the first time in Panorama school history that five soloists have qualified for state competition.
Special to the Times Vedette
The Panorama High School Dance Team enjoyed a successful day at the regional state solo qualifying contests held in Newton and Pella on Thursday and Friday, Oct. 23 and 24. The Panthers advance five dancers out of 10 selected in Class III for the state competition scheduled in the Casey’s Center in Des Moines Dec. 3-5.
Nine dancers represented PHS and all earned top division I ratings.
Selected to compete at state are: Hadley Fitch and Maci Bauer, juniors; Cali Knudsen and Nella Rivas, sophomores; and Addison Wagner, freshman. Knudsen and Rivas are two-time state qualifiers having competed in 2024.
Additional solo contestants were: Lexi Wasson, senior; Jessica Randol, junior; and Berkley Schwartz and Ava Thorn, sophomores.
“Our soloists at Panorama were dedicated and committed above and beyond to the preparation of their solos. Their goal was Division I ratings and to sweep in the top 10,” Panorama Dance Team Coach Kristi Vance said. “They met those goals and made Panorama history.
“As a coach, I am so grateful for this team and the opportunity to coach these exceptional young ladies,” Vance added.
Panorama is in elite company with five soloists selected for state. Only two other schools in the state advanced that many dancers: Dowling Catholic in Class X and Pleasant Valley in Class XI. This is the highest number of soloists in one year during Vance’s tenure as coach.
Several other schools from the area also sent dancers to the competition. They performed well but were not selected for state: Karlynn Wetzel, ACGC in Class II; Bristol Lauffer and Ally Sommerfield, Glidden-Ralston in Class III.
West Central Valley featured four dancers with two selected for state competition in Class IV. Advancing for the second consecutive year are Scarlett Putney (third place last year) and Addison Leonard (last year’s state champion); Dallas Morgan and Adalyn Weber.
The Panther dancers are now working to prepare for the State Team competition to be held in conjunction with the solo contests. Panorama will compete in jazz, contemporary, lyrical and the mix.