After a long pause between 2018-2024 this is the True North Dance’s third competitive season, the team is hungry for a win. Captain SaNiyah Redeau, the founding member of “dance club” and the dance team as we know it, says “I’m very excited for this season,” and she thinks, “if we really take practice seriously, clean things up, we could bring something home,”. This is her senior year and she’s college bound. As team Co-Captain, I have some big shoes to fill after she graduates.
On Monday October 20th, 2025, the PIL Fall Festival for Dance/Drill, kicked off the upcoming season, and was in great attendance. SaNiyah told me, “The fall festival is just kinda like an insider to what we might be going against,”. This year, the hosting school was Benson High School. Cleveland Tenacity, Grant Gendrills, Lincoln Cards, McDaniel Mountain Lions, Benson Technique, and our Roosevelt True North Dance Team took part in the first league sanctioned performance. Each team gave stellar performances including a call back to the 90s from McDaniel, a Thriller remix from the Gendrills, and a segment of their competitive Hip Hop routine from Benson.
Our dance team was proud to present their first ever competitive Jazz routine. The team’s new assistant Coach, Madi Ericson, choreographed this piece. She was excited to illustrate how she “love[s] to choreograph dances” and when I prompted her about being our new assistant coach she remarked on her hopes to stay with the program and later take on the role of head coach. At the event she said “I was very impressed, I thought the timing was so good,” when I asked her about the team’s performance. She also exclaimed her hopes for a super clean routine and that the team “[has] to win if it’s super crisp and clean.”
Drill Down, an “on your honor” elimination event where dancers perform a series of repetitive military-style commands for individual awards, was called by Cleveland Coach, Kris Burgess. I was thrilled to have placed 5th in novice drill down. Two Cleveland dancers took first place in novice and advanced. Drill Down is one of those unexpected events that is such a treat to watch. I highly recommend you attend a competition or showcase with Drill Down if you’ve never seen it before.
Our varsity team roster this year is Captain SaNiyah Redeau, Co-Captain Hazel Hooton, Joseph Holmes, JaKiyah Green, Gabby Johnson, Ember Mallov, Bri Alcide, and Retha McCorvey. Our Head Coach is Rhonda Holmes, along with Assistant Coach Madi Eriscon. We’ve got a tight crew this year.
True North Dance plans on performing at numerous basketball games this season and traveling to Philomath and Sheldon High Schools as well as PIL Districts for competition. The team has high hopes for the State Championship this year and is ready to kick butt with their competitive Hip Hop and Jazz numbers. The State Championship takes place May 20th-21st, 2026 and most teams are already getting serious about those trophies. We’re working hard, getting our technique locked in, and prepping for the packed season. We are hungry for that shiny new award to put in a shiny new trophy case.
