Dance team captain senior Gabby Stephens is almost half way through her senior year of high school dance and is not looking forward to the end.

Stephens has been a part of the De Soto Diamonds dance team since her freshman year, but she has been dancing since she was three years old.

Her first studio was Miss Maria’s Dance and Gymnastics, and she also attended Dixie Bell and All the Right Moves. After All The Right Moves closed before her freshman year, she joined Powerhouse Dance to continue to take lessons on top of high school dance.

“It’s a way for me to express myself and dance. For me, is an escape if I’m sad or mad about anything, I can express myself through dance,” Stephens said.

Her favorite style is contemporary because she feels like it’s most “emotional and connective,” Stephens said.

Contemporary dance incorporates many types of dance and is close to lyrical.

Stephens really enjoyed competitive dance in with her studio, but she no longer competitively dances for a studio. Competitions were her favorite part of studio because of the atmosphere.

“I’ve learned a lot from being on a team. In middle school they don’t have a dance team, they only have cheerleading, and it’s so different,” Stephens said. “I enjoy dancing for the school on pep assemblies and games I think it’s a lot of fun.”

She has put in many hours to dance and thinks it has affected her life in a very positive way. Stephens believes, “In order to get where you want to be you have to work hard for it that it’s not always going to be easy. You have to push through the hard the hard stuff to get where you want to be.”

While she would love to dance in college, she doesn’t know if she will dance. At some point she hopes to take classes.

“Gabilina (her nickname on the team) takes initiative, gets along really well with all the girls and tries to do what is best for the team versus herself individual,” head coach McKenzi Crow said.