Mixing a little fun with their work, the Belles headed to Arlington to Six Flags last weekend to perform at Dance Fest 2016 at Six Flags.  For director Amanda Harter, the location brought back memories.

“When I was a Belle under Miss Dana Morris, she took us to Six Flags over Texas in Arlington to a dance competition,” Harter said. “It was strange to be back at Six Flags with the Belles and actually be the director. Emma Reeder, Chelsea Harter, Kaiden Loep, and Skyler Jackson all have moms that were Belles that actually danced at Six Flags a million years ago, too!”

The girls danced on the Majestic Theater Stage, which is only 14 feet across. The Belles didn’t find out about the small size until the week before, and had to make changes to their routine to accommodate. 

“I was most nervous on Saturday about the size of our team in comparison to the size of the stage,” Harter said. “The Belles handled having to change routines with only two practices and 4 days left till the performances like champs!”

The team works to learn a variety of different routines, some easier than others. For the exhibition, the girls danced a hip-hop routine, which was tough for some of them. 

“I think we did great; we were nervous at first because there was a group of girls in front of us that had an amazing dance routine,” Sophomore Yomele Almeida said. ”We weren’t nervous just because we were dancing; we’ve been doing that for about a month now. We were nervous because we were doing a hip-hop routine, and it wasn’t easy to learn for me.”

With several pep rally and halftime performances under their belts, the girls were excited to perform at a new venue.

“Dancing is exciting and it lets us show our technique in dancing,” sophomore Iveth Molina said. “It helps us boost our confidence when we feel like our technique gets stronger”