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02/24/2018 11:00 PMThe Branford dance team entered last week’s State Championship as the three-time defending champions for both hip-hop and jazz, but Coach Jacqui Montano wanted her athletes to focus more on performing excellent routines, instead of worrying about where they’d finish in the final standings. In the end, Montano and fellow coach Megan Palluzzi got the performances they wanted, and the Hornets walked off the floor having added two more state titles to their dynasty.
Branford took first place by wide margins in both the Small Varsity Hip-Hop Division and the Small Varsity Jazz Division at the State Dance Championship at Hamden High School on Feb. 24. In the hip-hop competition, the Hornets posted a score 275 to defeat the 12 other teams, including second-place Stratford with its total of 248 points. For jazz, Branford scored a 255 and placed well ahead of runner-up Masuk (222 points) in the 12-team field.
With these two victories, Branford has now finished first in hip-hop at states four years in a row and in 11 of the last 12 seasons. The Hornets have also taken first place for jazz in each of the last four seasons and six times overall in program history.
“Our biggest thing today and leading up to today was that we never talked about winning or trophies or double titles. It was all about the performances and making sure they came off the stage feeling like they connected and left everything on the floor with no regrets. With the performance, the reward came,” Coach Montano said. “So it was even more sweet, because our goal was to have great performances, not win titles, and they really did that today. They weren’t focused on the end result. They were focused on the moment.”
The members of the 2018 Branford dance team are senior captain Melissa Brennan, junior captain Lily Milici, fellow juniors Casey Allen, Hannah Antonino, Rachel LaBonte, and Chloe Lourenco-Lang; sophomores Samantha Esposito, Johnna Palmese, Bella Petrosino, and Juliana Robinson, and Olivia Vitale; and freshman Layla Redente.
Brennan etched her name in the Hornets’ history books at the state meet. The senior captain became the first athlete in Branford High School dance history to win state championships in both the hip-hop and jazz divisions during each of her four seasons with the team. It means a lot to Brennan that she’s played an integral role in helping the Hornets continue their winning tradition, and she feels equally ecstatic for her fellow dancers on the squad.
“I am so proud of my team. We’ve worked through a lot of ups and downs this season, but we really pulled through for this competition. This week at practice, we had some really great times together to finish out one of the last competitions of the season,” says Brennan. “It’s a really amazing feeling to know I was able to lead my team this season as the only senior and help them put their best foot forward on the floor every time we danced together this season.”
Fellow captain Milici was overwhelmed with joy after Branford achieved a pair of four-peats at the State Championship. Milici says the experience of finishing first at a major meet like states is particularly special, because she got to do so while competing alongside a group of people who are like a family to her.
“I’ve been a competitive dancer for the last 14 years, and I’ve never felt this way about a team or dancing as I have with the Branford dance team. To be part of a team with such great people and such great coaches makes me feel that I love what I do more than I ever have,” Milici said. “We work so hard every single day. It feels good to see all the hard work we put in pay off, and to do it with your best friends makes it even better.”
Two weeks before they took the floor at states, Branford turned in a pair of stellar showings at the Universal Dance Association National Dance Team Championship at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida. Branford came in sixth place out of 50 teams in the Small Varsity Hip-Hop Division at nationals, marking its best all-time finish at the meet. At the State Championship, the Hornets performed the same fast-paced routine that featured a medley of five different styles, and Coach Montano said that performance actually bettered their one from nationals.
“I think it was a little bit better from nationals, because the dance was super clean, and all of their tricks hit perfectly with timing and landing,” said Montano. “Their energy was on par with our finals performance for nationals. We had a ton of energy, and there were people in the crowd from other high-school teams cheering us on. We had really good crowd appeal and energy that hyped up the performance and made us stand out.”
For their jazz performance at states, the Hornets performed to “Let It Be” by The Beatles like they had done at the National Championship, where they finished in 22nd place out of 80 teams in the Small Varsity Jazz Division. At the state meet, the Hornets wore orange ribbons in honor of Jaime Guttenberg, who was a competitive dancer that died at age 14 in the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida on Feb. 14. It was an emotional performance for many reasons for the Hornets, and Coach Palluzzi said they connected with the audience and judges with how they conveyed those emotions throughout the routine.
“We really had a beautiful, heartfelt moment before we went on stage. The whole team was crying and thinking about how special the whole entire season is and how far they’ve come for being such a small team,” said Palluzzi. “So they told their story and left all their emotions out on the floor.”
Considering how much they won by, it may seem like it was all smooth sailing for the Hornets at the State Championship, although their journey back to the top did come with a few bumps in the road. Branford has had to deal with some injuries this year and, shortly before nationals, several members of the team got hit with the flu, forcing the Hornets to essentially take off a week and a half leading up to that meet. However, Montano said that once her team returned to full strength, everyone got back in the gym and was ready to get back to work to make up for lost time.
“We had a feeling we were behind where we needed to be, but once everyone was healthy again, their focused just shifted and they gave 100 percent at every practice and were so motivated,” she said. “They were able to get a lot done these last few weeks. You can’t get where you need to be and make those accomplishments if you’re not focused, and they were determined to focus on working hard at practice to make the most of every minute. They were able to turn a lot of obstacles into a lot of focus.”
Branford now turns its focus toward the New England Championship, which will be held in Vermont on Saturday, March 10. The Hornets won first place in each division at last year’s regional meet. They’ve placed first in hip-hop four of last five years and have won for jazz in two of past three seasons at New Englands.
“We have two weeks to sharpen up and perfect all the small things. Our goal is to have our last two performances be the best they can be for this team this season, and it’s going to mean more to them than any other performance,” Coach Palluzzi said. “They’re really looking forward to doing it for their senior and have their best year yet.”
Branford’s lone senior Brennan said that the Hornets are looking to ride their wave of momentum from states into the New England Championship and, hopefully, come home with two more titles after delivering two more show-stopping performances.
“I think with all the excitement from today, we will use that to fuel our hunger to win and be our best in a couple of weeks when we compete for those New England Championship titles,” Brennan said.