A classic hip-hop mix of Run DMC, Vanilla Ice and Sir Mix-A-Lot flows from the speakers as the Marana High School Dance Team makes its way through a fervid pom routine.
The musical mashup vibrates the walls of the high school's dance studio, while the 13 girls power through one move after another in preparation for two upcoming performances.
Standing in the back corner of the room, coach Kandace Hale catches every kick, spin and dip on her pink iPhone, getting video that she will email to her students later with tips and tricks on how they can improve their groove.
The scene is simultaneously electric and exhausting, but nothing Marana senior Kirsten Gaskell can't handle.
"We train well," said Gaskell, 18, who serves as co-captain of the team. "We condition and prepare our bodies to do the things we do."
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Members of the Marana High School Dance Team can call themselves the best of the best without feeling guilty.
For the past three years the squad has come in first in the state for hip-hop at the Arizona State Cheerleading/Pom Tournament in Phoenix.
This year, it took home first in jazz dance, too.
A trip to the Universal Dance Association's National Dance Team Championship in Orlando, Fla., in February yielded the team a ninth-place ranking in hip-hop, as it went up against nearly 90 other high school teams from across the country.
Marana Dance will make an appearance at the Ironwood Ridge High School's spring dance showcase tonight, with a second performance in the Marana High School auditorium April 19-20.
"It is pretty awesome," said Hale, who is celebrating her first year as a teacher at Marana High. "They are very strong in hip-hop and are getting stronger in jazz as well."
Hale took over dance at Marana from teacher Jennifer Barton and is still enthusiastic about her new position.
Hale is a lifelong dancer. She started in her aunt's studio in New Orleans when she was 2 years old, eventually becoming a trainer for teams throughout southeast Louisiana.
Hale is in charge of all dance at Marana High, teaching beginner, intermediate, advanced and jazz classes to hundreds of kids.
Unless they have advanced training before they arrive at Marana, most students are required to take all four levels of classes before they can audition for the team.
"It is a really big commitment," Hale said. "Most kids need that much training to reach that skill level."
Marana Dance dabbles in poms, but the dance team is more technically trained than the pom team, Hale said. Plus, she added, her team competes.
While the poms handle most of the pep rallies and football games at the school, the dance team performs primarily out in the community, which has made it popular beyond the walls of Marana High.
Junior Bailey Maguire discovered the Marana dance team while she was still in middle school and knew even then that she wanted to try out.
Maguire, 17, didn't make the team on her first attempt.
"You get let down," she said. "But it is the perfect motivation to work harder for the next audition."
Now that she's on the squad, Maguire finds the camaraderie to be one of its most enjoyable aspects.
It's not uncommon for the dancers on the team to hang with each other after practice or eat lunch together during school hours.
"Everyone loves everyone," she said. "We have drama. We are a bunch of girls. But we get over it quickly. We are like a family."
Jessica Navarrette, a senior at Marana and the other team captain, has been on Marana Dance since she was a freshman.
Navarrette, 18, is already slated to be Hale's assistant coach next year. She will split her time between the team and attending the University of Arizona.
Navarrette hopes to show others what an awesome program the dance team can be.
"It is an amazing experience," she said. "Like no other."
If you go
• What: Ironwood Ridge dance showcase
• When: 7 p.m. tonight
• Where: Ironwood Ridge High School auditorium, 2475 W. Naranja Drive
• Cost: $5 for students; $10 for adults
• Info: 696-3902
• What: Marana High spring show
• When: 7 p.m. April 19-20
• Where: Marana High School auditorium, 12000 W. Emigh Road
• Cost: $5 in advance; $7 day of the show.
• Info: 616-6400
Contact reporter Gerald M. Gay at ggay@azstarnet.com or 807-8430.
