Junior Josie Lang has gone from being an audience member at her sister’s dance recitals to co-captaining the dance team at Baldwin High School.
Lang started dancing when she was 3 years old after being inspired by her older sister. So the new high school dance team is very special to her, as she never thought she would have this opportunity until college.
“I have always wanted a team, and I thought it would be cool, but we haven’t had a team,” Lang said. “I’ve always gone to Duquesne basketball games, and seeing their dance team perform during halftime makes me want to do that in college.”
When Lang found out about the dance team, she was thrilled.
“I was so excited to find out about the dance team, because I signed up for one before, but it fell apart. This is something I have wanted to do for a while,” Lang said.
Lang is co-captain with sophomore Molly Porco. Porco says Lang is great to work with.
“She is a very responsible leader and always helps to figure out activities during our practices that will help the team learn the dance best,” Porco said. “In dance, Josie is very sharp and has amazing energy, which brings so much to the dance and helps it to look better.”
Lang’s teammate, junior Carson Bender, said Lang is a great leader.
“When people don’t understand a move or don’t know where to go, she always helps out and works on it with us,” Bender said.
In addition to her dance skills, Lang also brings more positive qualities to the team as well as outside of dance.
“Other than her dance skills, Josie is very kind and calm and helps bring everyone together during practice,” Porco said. “Outside of dance, Josie is such a great friend. She is very nice, funny, caring, and I always have the best time with her.”
Bender agreed.
“She’s really energetic and outgoing,” Bender said. “She’s always so nice and friendly.”
While Lang’s favorite dance style is lyrical, the team does hip-hop, which is very different. Lang does not let this challenge stop her. She enjoys the freedom and creativity that comes with creating choreography with Porco.
“It means a lot to me, because I like coming up with my own choreography,” Lang said. “When I showed everyone what it would look like, they were excited. That felt great.”
Porco said splitting the leadership responsibilities makes their roles more manageable.
“We like to each take a part of the routine and choreograph our time, then we come together and learn each other’s parts and teach it to our team,” Porco said. “We also split the responsibility of figuring out fun things for our team to do – places to dance, team bonding, and a possible dance showcase for our families.”
The dance team performs at boys and girls basketball games during halftime, but Lang hopes for them to perform at competitions one day.
“In the future, I hope that we can compete one day. I think that would be a lot of fun,” Lang said.
