Lady Centaurs Dance Team on a Winning Streak

With a fresh perspective and style, Culver City High School's first competitive dance team, the Lady Centaur Dance Team has already earned two huge wins this school year.

At the GlobeX Championship on April 11th and 12th, the Lady Centaurs won 1st Place in the Small Hip Hop Division, Level Champions in Hip Hop, and Grand Champions for the highest score out of all competing dance teams. Additionally, the team was granted a paid bid to the One Prime Finals in Orlando, Florida on May 2nd and 3rd.

Two months prior, the team had competed in the World Class Championships Competition on February 21st where they had earned 1st Place in the Small Varsity Hip Hop Division. They also secured the Judges Showstopper Award, Judges Sportsmanship Award, and their paid bid to GlobeX Championship. 

The dance scoring rubric for Hip Hop in these competitions is strict, highlighting just how impressive these accomplishments are. Categories are 15 points maximum and add up to 100 points. The categories include choreography, performance, and execution. 

Choreography is judged on style and creativity, routine staging and visual effects, and degree of difficulty. Execution is judged on musicality, rhythm, and body isolation as well as uniformity, synchronization, transitions, and spacing. Performance is judged on appeal and audience suitability, showmanship, and overall impression. On this scale, during the World Class Championships the Lady Centaurs scored a whopping 93.8 out of 100. 

These huge competition wins mark the successful transformation of the Lady Centaur Dance Team into a completely new style of dance. The team is adopting a majorette style, popular at Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

Majorette dance is a blend of jazz, hip-hop, ballet, and West African movements. It is characterized by sharp moves, bucking, big energy, and sometimes a call and response pattern. This is where the leader dances and the team follows a few counts after.

Building the routines is a fun experience for the team, with new Coach Shirnese Frisby using a spontaneous approach. “I feel like the most unique, fun pieces come out where you just do it on the spot,” she says. “You just feel the music in that moment, and then you just go for it.”

The Lady Centaurs are diverse in such music choice, creating mash-ups with popular songs from Beyoncé, Cardi B, TI, Latto, Coi Leray, and the K-Pop Demon Hunters soundtrack.

Coach Frisby began the transition into the majorette style of dance upon the request and  collaboration from the dancers. They hope to “get some culture into the school,” and Coach Frisby is excited about “bringing that vision to life.”

With the season going year-round, the dance team has been conditioning to improve stamina and cleaning up movements and formations. Their goal is to “truly show that they're not just individuals, but they're a team,” according to Coach Frisby. 

The Lady Centaurs also use their skill to support other Culver City High School sports teams. The dancers can be found on the sidelines of football and basketball games, and they also appear for many other school events. Most recently, they danced at the Spring Dance Concert on March 19th through the 21st.

The Lady Centaurs Majorette Dance Team represents CCHS with strength, confidence, and class. Their achievements show a true reflection of commitment, growth, and resilience of a team of incredible young women. 

The Lady Centaurs post updates and information on their Instagram page, @cchs.ladycentaurs.