Comet Pom/Dance Team receives D1 rating in Hip-Hop at state competition

By John Burbridge
sports@charlescitypress.com
CHARLES CITY — The late, great Elmore Leonard would advise aspiring novelists, “If it sounds like writing … rewrite it.”

Something similar could be said about dancing — “If you’re not making it look easy … you’ve got some work to do.”

In other words, it’s usually not easy making dance look easy.

But that’s the task the Charles City Comets Pom/Dance Team is willing to take on throughout the year(s) as its poster-photo motto is “DANCE … We make it look easy.”

“It takes a lot of preparation and hard work,” said senior captain Cassandra Foxen. “And you have to be willing to take some constructive criticism. (Fellow co-captain) Brooklyn Tynan and I are always trying to help with the communication between our coach (Keisha Cunnings) and our teammates.”

The team regularly performs during halftimes of Charles City home basketball games. And so far this season, the dancers have shown they have game themselves — in particular their hip-hop routine that is noticeably fluid, graceful, creative, tightly in sync … in other words, poetry in motion made to look easy.

“We have one of the better hip-hop routines since I’ve been coaching here,” said Cunnings, who was recruited by students to help start and coach the program in 2014. “And this team is one of the most dedicated. They’re really committed.

“We have a nice mix of experienced seniors and freshmen who are willing to learn from them.”

At the Iowa State Dance and Drill Team Competition held Dec. 5-6 at the Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, the Comet dancers earned a Division 1 rating in Hip-Hop and a Division 2 rating in Pom — one of the best showings Charles City has ever had.

The Comet Pom/Dance Team will be back in action for its “final performance of the year” during Friday’s varsity doubleheader against visiting Oelwein before school activities take a break for the holidays.

The team will host its annual “Showcase” Feb. 8 starting at 2 p.m. in the Charles City High School gym.

“That’s where we allow our seniors to do solo dances,” Cunnings said. “We give them freedom to express themselves … do their own choreography … select their own music. ”

Though Foxen is an experienced dancer who has been selected to be part of the All-Iowa Honor Dance Team, which will perform during the Iowa High School Girls Basketball Championships, she has never danced solo before.

“I’m not too nervous about dancing … I’m nervous about coming up with the choreography,” said Foxen, who with Tynan and fellow Comet seniors Priscilla Arenas, Eina David, Madison Lincoln and Abril Flores will be among the solo performers at the showcase.