Dance Team

all starz "jazz" it up at Little Falls

The Aitkin Dance Jazz team was in action at Little Falls Thursday at a Granite Ridge Conference Meet. Coach Colleen Christensen fills us in, "There was plenty of excitement and nerves as we performed our Jazz routines for the first time this season. Facing a srong mixed A/AA field that included several regular State contenders, our scores were right where we expected. Varsity placed 6th out of 8 teams with a total of 247/500, while JV finished 8th out of 8 teams. We'll meet these teams on Dec.18 for GRC Kick in Albany. Varsity's scores from these two meets will roll into the conference championship on Jan. 8 in Foley. We're right back to work tomorrow as we gear up to compete in both kick and jazz at Rocori Saturday in what promises to be a very competitive Class A field."

(The jazz team pic includes from left to right, Kate Boyd, Evelyn Anderson, Hannah Rasmussen, Joey Swanson, Linzy Beaufeaux and Hannah Hunter.)

The Aitkin All Starz had another good day Saturday picking up a 2nd in JV and a 3rd in Varsity at the Little Falls Invite. Coach Colleen Christensen was pretty happy with her team's performance, "Both routines today were solid. We added more cardio and conditioning into practice this past week and that extra stamina work paid off with stronger performances. The dancers are becoming more confident each time we perform which is exactly what we want to see. We were excited for both teams to be called during awards. We don't compete again until December 2 at the Granite Ridge Conference Jazz meet. We'll shift some focus to jazz next week while still working hard to improve our kick routine, particularly in technique, execution and difficulty."

Varsity Kick

1) Little Falls

2) Big Lake

3) Aitkin

4) DGF

5) Moorhead

6) Pequot Lakes

7) Zimmerman

8) Frazee

9) Wadena

JV Kick

1) Little Falls

2) Aitkin

3) Wadena

4) Moorhead

5) Big Lake

All starz in first action at paul bunyan invite

The Aitkin Dance Team was in action Saturday for the first time this season participating in the Paul Bunyan Invite in Brainerd. The Varsity Kick team was 4th out of seven teams while the JV Kick team was 3rd out of four teams in the event. In the Varsity competition Aitkin scored 277 points out of 500 possible, an average of 55.4. Coach Colleen Christensen, "We scored about where we thought we'd be for this first competition. We only had 7 dancers on the floor today making it hard to compete with teams that had 16+ dancers. A couple of timing and memory errors but an overall strong performance. It's back to work this week to continue cleaning and working on improvement in preparation for next Saturday's competition in Little Falls." The JV team finished with 184 points out of 500 possible for an average score of 36.8. Coach Christensen on her team's performance, "We received a 10 points per judge deduction for not enough kicks meeting the minimum height requirement which puts us at 134 points after that deduction for an average of 26.8. Even though we were disappointed to receive the deduction it was still a really great performance. Our energy was really high; movements were really sharp, and they improved so much already just from Tuesdays preview night."

The final results in Varsity Kick showed Bagley scoring 295 points to win the event while Little Falls was 2nd, Duluth Denfeld was 3rd, Aitkin was 4th, Willmar was 5th, Pequot Lakes was 6th and Crookston finished 7th. In the JV Kick it was Bagley winning with 192 points followed by Little Falls, Aitkin and Willmar.

Coach Christensen commented on the focus for today's event, "We wanted to show strong kick technique, error free routines, achieving formations, big faces and strong presentations, keeping our stamina up through routines, having fun and doing our best."

Roles and Goals for the 2025-26 A.D.T.

The Coaches

Joey Swanson

"This season our small but mighty team is fueled by determination and heart. With a strong group of returning athletes leading the way, we're building on last year's momentum and pushing ourselves to new levels of technical precision and performance quality. The team has shown exceptional drive, unity and focus, working together with a shared goal of returning to the State floor and representing our program with pride. Beyond competition, we're committed to growing as dancers, teammates, and as a program that continues to elevate each year. Our 2025-26 season motto, "No Doubt" captures the mindset driving us forward. We're choosing to have no doubt in ourselves, in each other, or in what we're capable of achieving together. With trust, confidence and a united spirit, this team is unstoppable!"

(Coaches Ava Christensen, Anna Hankel, Colleen Christensen, Justice Brezinsky and Natalie Crowther)

Joey Swanson

"I'm on the Leadership Team and one of our goals would definitely be to make it to State again this season. My personal goals are to grow as a dancer, improve my skills and be a good leader. I'm thankful for these opportunities and so excited for what's to come this season."

Sabina Para

Kahli Rasmussen

"My goal is to improve my flexibility and kick technique. A team goal is to work together, support each other and show everyone how good and strong we really are when we're working together."

Kahli Rasmussen

"My goal as a member of the team is to build bonds with all the girls, have a fun senior year and see where life takes me and all of us. I also want to learn more about each other's life goals."

Evelyn Anderson

"I'm on the Leadership Team and one team goal for this year is to make it back to State and do better than we did last season. I would also like to grow as a team, whether that be in skills, teamwork, friendships or becoming tighter as a team and family. I think that would be really cool since we are such a small team."

Krista Hays

Evelyn Anderson

"This year I'm going to dance with all my heart and know that when I leave, I did my best. I'm excited to have fun during this last year of dance."

Hannah Rasmussen

"My personal goal is to improve my turns and overall flexibility. As a member of the Leadership Team, one team goal would be to go out and show everyone that we are capable of improving each and every day and that growth will help us to make it to State again and improve our scores from last year. I would love for us to grow as a team and a family and encourage others to join our team!"

The Aitkin Dance Team will open their season Saturday with a Varsity and JV Tournament in Brainerd. The following week they are Little Falls, and you catch them in action at home with halftime performances on December 2.

The Aitkin All Starz Dance Team has had a storied and successful history over the past forty years. Their first State hardware came in 2001 when they won the title in High Kick Precision. They followed that up with another Championship in High Kick in 2003 and another in 2004. There was a brief lull that ended in 2010 and started a run of titles not often seen in Minnesota history. They won the High Kick in 2010, then in 2012 they captured the first ever double dip. grabbing both the High Kick and the Jazz title in the same year. In 2014 they began a run of four straight titles in High Kick, adding another Jazz title in 2017 as well. They picked up more hardware with 3rd. place finishes in 2018 and 2019 and they are poised to make another run soon. When you total those Championships up it comes to nine High Kick State titles and two Jazz crowns. That’s impressive to say the least. There is no reason to think those totals won’t start adding up in the near future.

Aitkin Dance Team

Thank you to our sponsors

all starz at rocori (pics by Melanie)

all starz continue to improve

Little Falls dance pics by melanie

all starz "jazz" it up at Little Falls

Little Falls action from Melanie Boyd

Hardware from Little Falls