The house lights dimmed. The audience went silent. The stage lights rose. Varsity Mystique strutted onto the stage to kick of the MHS Mystique Spirit Showcase with their routine ‘Country Girl’ last night at seven p.m. in the Theater.

Sophomore Erin Brooks said the team has been preparing for the showcase and their upcoming competitions at Lee’s Summit High School and Universal Studios in Orlando, Fla. They performed all of their halftime routines at the showcase tonight, as well as the routines they will perform at upcoming competitions.

Seniors Carson Hartung, Amy Keller, Alyssa Porcelli, Jordan Magrecki and Olivia Nilsen choreographed a  crowd favorite of the night, the guy/girl routine ‘Broadway Babies,’ last Monday and Tuesday. To paint a picture of the scene, imagine a group of guys spinning, leaping and popping to a medley of songs from musicals with the varsity Mystique members to end the first act of the show.

“It’s super fun,” Brooks said. “And all the guys really like it too.”

To kick off the second act, elementary and middle school dancers who attended the Mystique Frozen-themed dance camp over Winter Break performed routines to songs from the movie like ‘Do You Want to Build a Snowman?’ and ‘In Summer,’ along with other cold-related tracks like ‘Hot as Ice’ and ‘Ice Ice Baby.’

Another guest group to perform routines throughout the showcase was the Junior Mystique Dance Team, consisting of young dancers from Crestview and Selvidge Middle Schools.

As the night came to a close, a few select members from the audience walked onto the stage. It was time for the dancing dads to perform with their daughters for the Father/Daughter routine.

Brooks said her father Scott, making her practice with him almost every day, made a huge effort to get the dance right, even resorting to writing down a list of all the moves.

“It didn’t really help,” Brooks said. “He was struggling.”

Cara Nutt, head coach of varsity Mystique, said the team’s goal for the rest of the season is to do the absolute best they can, and every dancer is pushing themselves and their teammates to work harder.

“We try not to look at trophies or placement,” Nutt said. “It’s just if we go out there and come off the floor and feel like we gave it our all, and that was the best we could do, that’s all you can ask for.”