Ali Peltz: Hi guys, thanks for joining me today!
Arianna Kosloff, Dani Ostrove, Kimber Nahas, Nikki Egna: Hey Ali!
AP: You girls really are in sync, as usual! So to start off, what’s a normal day at practice like?
NE: First we have the team warm up for about 20 minutes with laps, jumping jacks, and stretches. We do some practice kicks, and then run through the dance for the remainder of the time.
AP: Do you guys do the same routine at each sporting event?
AK: For the football season we do a kick line routine, and for basketball we change it up and do a hip-hop dance.
AP: I would like to compliment the hip-hop outfits! Who designed them?
NE: We mostly worked on it together.
KN: But I picked out the pinnies!
AK: Usually for basketball we go with the normal tank top and leggings, but this year we decided to switch it up. We have our sparkling high-top Converse and the basketball jerseys to match the team.
AP: Who comes up with the complicated routines? How long does it take?
DO: The four captains choreograph the dances together. We pick out the music and do the mixes all on our own.
AP: Wow, you put those mixes together on your own?
NE: Yeah we do, Ali! The football routine takes us about ten hours to choreograph, and the basketball routine takes about fifteen hours.
AP: Makes sense. What would you say your favorite part of being a Portette is?
KN: The sparkles!
NE: I would say my favorite part is seeing all the younger girls look up to us, and also speaking with the older women who were Portettes years ago.
DO: Yeah the Schreiber Portettes have been around for over sixty years.
AP: Were any of you one of those young girls who looked up to the Portettes?
KN: Definitely. I used to watch them in the parade each year and think “I want to be one of them.”
DO: I don’t think I ever went to those parades…
AK: Yeah, I didn’t know about the team until I got to high school!
AP: What would you want to tell people who are looking to tryout for the Portettes in the next few years?
DO: I would say if they’re interested then definitely give it a shot. Whether or not you make the team, it’s a good learning experience.
KN: If you don’t make it then you can always try out again the following year.
NE: And if you do make it, it requires a lot of hard work and dedication.
AK: All in all, it’s really a fun way to meet new people and bring your dance spirit to the school atmosphere.
AP: Thanks for speaking with me!