Hutto drill team gets top rating
HUTTO — Success by the Hutto Hi-Steppers and others at a recent assessment could be just the move to sway the University Interscholastic League into creating a competitive category for drill teams, sponsors are hoping.
The Hutto High School team received a Division I rating at the Texas Dance Educators Association’s pilot Dance/Drill Team Fall Assessment in Leander.
The dancers competed along with 23 teams in an Austin-area competition that TDEA hopes will serve as a model for a state-level assessment.
Data from the assessment, coupled with that of an upcoming spring review, will be presented in a proposal by the TDEA to the UIL in June, as the league doesn’t currently have a category for dance-drill teams.
The proposal will also include enrollment data and
“
(Dance) just really trained me for what life outside of high school might be like.”
— Emma Halbardier, Hi-Steppers captain testimonials from the association’s members.
“Since we had never done this type of competition before, there was a little bit of nerves involved and just kind of the unknown,” Hi-Steppers Coach Brooke Solomon said. “But we were definitely excited, and we felt confident going into it.”
This is the first evaluation of its kind that Solomon has seen in her 18 years as a dance teacher.
“It was nice to be in on the ground floor and be there that very first year and just get to experience that with my kids and just all get to be a part of something new together. We’ll never be able to say that again,” she said.
Dance-drill teams such as the Hutto Hi-Steppers focus on drill performances in the fall, highlighting precise movements as a unit, and then transition to traditional dance routines in the spring.
During the Nov. 13 event, the team presented a field jazz routine, one of its fall performances typically performed during halftime at football games. A panel of judges scored the team on technique, precision, showmanship and entertainment
value. “It was such a unique experience. Like, since it was the first one that there’s ever been, it was very exciting to be there with the team,” said Emma Halbardier, the Hi-Steppers captain and a senior at Hutto High. “The team puts in so much work all throughout the year, so especially competing there and getting that Division I rating was just very, like, paid-off feeling and felt very nice.”
TDEA is hoping the moves catch on with UIL.
“The reasoning behind developing these assessments … is to ensure that we are able to have dance … on the same platform as other athletic sports and fine arts that already exist under the UIL umbrella (and) being able to affirm the educational value in dance education,” TDEA Dance Team Assessment Committee Chairwoman Jaqueline Olivares said.
The association is a nonprofit that works as the governing body of dance education in Texas, officials said.
“The role of TDEA has kind of been to be that voice in different capacities, advocating for education for all,” Olivares said.
A state dance/drill assessment was previously sought in June 2023, when a third party submitted a proposal to the league, but didn’t align with TDEA’s Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills, officials said.
The third-party proposal aimed to bring a dance/ drill assessment under the spirit category, in which cheer teams compete. However, TDEA wanted to create a separate dance category that would encompass all kinds of styles and genres, not just dance-drill teams.
The association also hopes to expand the assessment to the middle school level.
“We really would like to just paint the picture to the (UIL) council member(s) that dance education is this really big force that really teaches kids other skills that are applicable for their lives,” Olivares said. “We’re trying to (also) educate, not just the council members, but really everyone in education that there’s a really huge presence of dance and that it looks differently across the state. … So, it’s important for us to be able to create a comprehensive and inclusive proposal.”
As a dancer since a young age, Halbardier attested the art form assisted in developing her character.
“(Dance) has helped me form into, like, a great young woman in just ways that I lead, ways that I show myself, like my interactions with others … and just really trained me for what life outside of high school might be like,” she said.
