As the 2020-21 school year continues, the De Soto Diamonds dance team is preparing for the Kansas City Classic dance competition taking place on Dec. 12. 

“Competing at the KC Classic is so much fun. Every team is so supportive,” sophomore dancer Emily Breit said. “It’s more than just a competition between schools.. 

The Kansas City Classic dance competition allows high school dance teams across the Kansas City metro area to compete. The competition is typically held at Liberty High School located in Missouri, but because of COVID-19, the dance team has had to change the format of such regional competitions. 

“Typically we get to go to Liberty High School and compete with a bunch of other teams and perform for the judges, but this year due to COVID it was changed to virtual,” senior captain, Tara Parr said. 

Due to the pandemic, many competitions have switched to a virtual platform instead of a traditional in-person platform. 

“We will submit videos of our dance routines and the judges will watch it that way instead of it being an in-person competition,” Parr said. 

Since the competition is usually held in-person with a large audience, the Diamonds had to learn to dance without the eyes of their peers cheering them on.

“The team had to get dressed and go to school and film our routines. The team really had to learn how to self motivate since there were no spectators or other teams there to cheer us on,” Parr said. 

In addition to the changes being made to competitions, the Diamonds also have to perform with masks on to prevent further spread of the virus. 

“The masks make it very hard to breathe and sometimes it feels like it’s holding us back. I feel like my mind goes to keeping the mask up rather than the dancing,” Breit said. 

Although the dance team had a much different way of completing their routines this year, the team is looking forward to the rest of the season. 

“I am very excited we have a lot of talented members this year and even though it’s a different year, the team has been able to persevere and grow stronger,” Parr said.