As the first quarter of the 2024-2025 school year comes to a close, so does the favorite time of year for many Chesterton Trojans: football season. The last home game of the season, a rather fortunate one in comparison to years past, will take place on October 18 against the Merrillville Pirates. Per usual, the Chesterton Dance Team (CDT) will perform pre-game and on the sidelines alongside the cheerleaders, only this Friday with a few special guest stars.
Although CDT is a relatively new club at Chesterton High School, only in existence for five years to date, the dance team has already made quite the impact on the town of Chesterton and, most importantly, the Indiana High School Dance Team Association. Not only a hit under the Friday night lights, CDT also performs at basketball and soccer games, scrimmages, and at state and nationwide competitions, where they hold a national championship in the varsity kick division above the heads of some of the best teams in America. To add to their winnings, the club has one of the highest average GPAs of all the clubs and teams at CHS. Contrary to a popular stereotype associated with dance teams, one derived from a certain Lifetime series, CDT’s most impressive quality is their communal good spirits and sportsmanship. Exhibit A: the team has made a habit of hosting Kiddie Camp, an intensive camp for young dancers in the community to learn from their role models.
This Friday, from 4-7 p.m., children grades K-8 are invited to learn a dance alongside the members of CDT and perform a pre-game show for the CHS Varsity game against the Pirates. Kiddie Camp is a fundraiser for the Chesterton Dance Team, and the proceeds help the team afford anything they might need for another successful competition season. Although a great perk for the team, the money isn’t the motive for hosting Kiddie Camp. The goal is to give young dancers from all over Northwest Indiana a taste of what it’s like to be a performative dancer, and perhaps secure a future star on the team. This year’s performance is to be bigger than ever, not just in spirit but also in number. Ninety-seven kids are currently signed up to partake in the camp, and that’s not including the CDT dancers. With fourteen girls on the team, the ratio of mentors to pupils is beyond skewed, a major con seeing as each girl is assigned a group of kids to work with. That is about seven Kiddie Campers per dancer, campers of all different ages, capabilities, and personalities. Last year’s camp was popular, and this year’s camp will face the aftermath of that: a Kiddie Camper boom.
With numbers like that the Kiddie Campers could very well overtake your average CHS varsity linebacker, and they do indeed overtake their coaches and mentors. With innocent excitement, the vast numbers of grade school dancers can be quite a handful for the members of CDT. The liveliness that the young dancers bring to the field for their performance is not lost behind-the-scenes. In fact, the buildup has proven to be just as–if not more–stimulating as the debut, and CDT is here for it, but not without a few anxieties.
“I’m expecting a very good turn out this year; I think it’s our biggest one yet,” says sophomore Georgia Peterson, a three year member of the team. “And that means each of us will have more children, which can be a tad stressful, but CDT loves a challenge.”
In tales of Kidde Camp’s past, Peterson reports starting the night with much more life inside her than what she ends it with, but she still views it as an endearing and amusing experience. Outside of families, it’s not common for older kids to have much positive interaction with younger kids, and that’s what makes Kiddie Camp so special: a truly positive experience that brings together the youngest and oldest youth dancers in and around Chesterton. Not only do the young dancers get to learn from more experienced dancers and get a premature glimpse into what it is like to perform on a high school dance team, there are material benefits as well. Dancers will receive a Kiddie Camp t-shirt, matching bow, pizza, chips, and water, as well as games and fun before the night’s grand finale.
Naturally, the theme of this Friday’s game is Halloween. Although it is not yet disclosed what Kiddie Camp will be dancing to, a terrific and hopefully creepy performance is in order, and knowing CDT, will most likely be delivered. With the brains, compassion, and talent of the mentors and the liveliness and potential of the young dancers, Kiddie Camp is sure to, once again, be an absolute hit for kids of all ages.
