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http://www.chron.com/default/article/Taylor-Pacesetters-make-history-by-winning-team-4515252.php

Taylor Pacesetters make history by winning team title

By Helen Eriksen

Page 1 of 1

After months of hard work, it all came down to a final test for the 73 members of the Taylor High School Pacesetters' dance team to prove that they had what it takes to be national champions.

Long practices paid off as the team won first place overall in the large school division of the 2013 Marching Auxiliaries National Dance and Auxiliary Championship, held March 22-23 in Fort Worth.

"We started practicing in the summer and from January to March, we had extended practices for up to three hours after school," said Erin Edwards, a senior and colonel on the team.

To capture the national trophy, the Pacesetters were judged on choreography, showmanship, presentation, execution, precision and technique. The contest, which draws about 200 teams from Texas and other states, is one of the largest national dance championships.

"We sat down at the beginning of the year to decide our goals and the No. 1 goal was to win the national dance competition and bring home the jackets that come with the title," said Pacesetter director Darby Boyd. "The team worked so hard and it is great to see that effort pay off."

The victory marks the first time for a dance team in Katy ISD to win an overall national dance title, Boyd said.

Boyd, a veteran dance teacher who has been at Taylor for six years, said in order to win the prestigious award she knew the production would have to be a team effort and that they would have to do something to set themselves apart from other competitors.

She said the Pacesetters, also trained by assistant director Jennifer Soliz, have mastered a more stylized and theatrical technique that is different from many other dance teams.

"Most of the other teams are kick dancers, but we use skits, a lot of props and novelties and there are stories behind our dances," team first lieutenant Cara Shear said.

Boyd described the team members as "exceptional young women" who are talented and also very caring. She said she is proud about how they rallied around Shear when her father died of cancer in August. The team dedicated a special number performed to "Smile," a song popularized by Charlie Chaplin, to Shear in remembrance of her father.

Team members recently had the chance to strut their stuff performing some of their winning routines at the annual Pacesetter's dance review held in the Taylor High School gymnasium.

In the audience sitting on the front row in the center was Pat Shear, Cara's mother.

"Dancing has been Cara's constant activity regardless of what is happening in her life, and she has truly loved every moment of being a part of the Pacesetters," Pat Shear said.

Allyson Aiken, who is the first junior to serve in the role of lieutenant colonel in the Pacesetter's history, said Boyd has been very motivational and has helped the dancers grow closer as a team. She said she has learned a lot from being on the team.

"It taught me to be a leader quickly and how to develop bonds with others on the team," said Aiken, who has been dancing since she was 3 years old. "I can honestly say that I am friends with every single girl here."

Aiken said Boyd would often recite a motivational speech by a football coach called "I am a Champion," which has reached more than 1 million viewers on YouTube, to help them harness their internal energy.

Boyd said the Pacesetters also have received enormous support from the school's administration and especially from Assistant Principal Russell Faldyn, whose daughter, Makayla Faldyn, is on the team. She said he helped design and build props for their dance routines.

Boyd said the team, which boasts a cabinet full of trophies, has always performed well in individual categories but had not yet scored an overall win until this year.

In addition to being the overall 2013 MA Large School National Champions, the team also won first place in several other categories including dance production, contemporary and open dance as well as the outstanding dance technique award.