STATE. We Will Be There.

That is the phrase on the handmade sign that sums it all up for the Lakes' Community High School Dance Team from Lake Villa, IL. They started their season back in summer 2017 attending dance camp at Carthage College. They continued with 6 am summer practices 3 days a week, performed at fall home football games, went through winter competition season tryouts and began performing at home basketball games. All this with a group of dancers from all different dance backgrounds: some studio trained, some self -taught and some with minimal experience. Their configuration changed a little with a couple leaving the team and then they added their first-ever male dancer this winter's competition season. They held car washes, hosted a kids' camp, sold candy bars and volunteered at a local charity. Their season activities are probably pretty similar to other area dance teams with the exception of that sign.

Unlike other area high schools, Lakes has no dedicated dance space. Lakes is not an underprivileged school - just athletic-space challenged. When gym space can't be found, these twenty dancers are often seen using cafeteria space, hallways, wherever they can leap and turn. When winter sports began; space became an even more scarce commodity. They had to go off-site to find space and were assigned a decommissioned elementary school that had a multi-purpose space. No wooden or Marley dance floors, no mirrors, little heat --- but, they had a sign. It was the only item hanging on the painted cement block walls in that outdated space. Made by one of the seniors, that sign was simple: "STATE. We Will Be There." It was constructed of Lakes' royal blue colored poster paper with painted letters held to the wall with black duct tape. It became their inspiration.

The Lakes dancers went to their remote practice space 4 days a week. With nine seniors on this team, they had a serious goal --- none wanted to end their high school dance experience without a trip to the state finals. Unintentionally, those dancers turned that handmade sign into their own Notre Dame "Play Like a Champion Today" sign, the sign that Notre Dame football players traditional touch prior to taking the field. Competition season began. They attended 6 competitions in total - all bringing lack luster finishes. Never were they in any top placements. But, they kept returning to that practice space to work hard with that sign in sight. They changed, tweaked, and perfected their routine. They held extra practices and bonding sessions to get inspired. Then on their way out of the last practice before Sectionals they quietly kissed their fingers and touched that sign in hopes they would qualify for a performance on the IHSA 2A State performance floor in Bloomington, IL.

Their "do or die" moment arrived at the Mundelein High School Sectional Competition on January 20th. They had to place in the top 6 in order to receive a bid to compete at the next level. The competition was fierce. Pushing down their extreme nerves, they took the floor to perform their high energy kick routine (the only kick performance in a sea of lyrical, hip hop, jazz and pom routines) to "I Wanna Dance with Somebody". And, those dancers performed their best routine of the year earning themselves 5th place and a spot on the IHSA state competition floor.

One week later, on Friday, January 25th, the Lakes Community High School Dance Team took the floor at the Grossinger Motors Arena in Bloomington, IL for the IHSA 2A State Dance Competition Finals. They landed in 17th place among the top 30 2A high school dance teams in Illinois. State. We Will Be There. It became a reality for those 20 Lakes Dance Team dancers.