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Show I I Sun Chronicle, Februory 2, 1 980, Page 1 1 Sporrstacular By Keith Duncan a nice feeling to know that in a world filled with super problems, super evils and super everything-els- e that is bad, there are Super Kids who delight the community they live in and audiences wherever they might Its travel. You might have heard something already about this extroidinary group of girls that combine drill and baton skills to have become very well known in the intermountain area. If you havent heard, the fame of this group will probably grip you soon. A few weeks ago the Superkids performed during the halftime of a Viewmont Viking basketball contest and to little surprise there wasnt a fan in the stands that didnt give a standing ovation through most of the girls performance. A similar experience took place at the University of Utah during another halftime activity. Whats the story behind these girls? Why so successful? Besides patient parents and what some have referred to as super moms, the Superkids understand the value of hard work. If it means 6 to 8 hours a week, these girls will pay that price to become good, said Alleen Larsen who began teaching dancing 39 years ago in Richfield, Utah. For 15 years she trained her daughter, Tami Greene, with the same intensity and today Tami finds hersW as the director of the Superkids. Tami has been teaching for the past nine years and last spring her dream came true with the opening of their own studio in Ogden. She chose to call it Dance Expressions," which serves as the home of the Superkids Alleen, also the mother of Pat Rhodes who owns and operates another famed drill group in Clinton, Utah, still assists the teams and handles the ballet portion of the Superkids training The long hours of practice, the travel which parents pay for and the patience to endure all of this is all worth while say the parents. Standing ovations by football and basketball halftime crowds, the girls pleasure in performing and the poise, confidence and discipline it teaches them is all that counts say those same parents Upcoming performances The Superkids were formely known Baton and Mini-Sta- r as the Team from Clinton, and have since moved to Ogden where they took over their new name. Their new name was adopted after they made two sparkling appearances on the Osmond Family Hour in May of last year. Since that time the girls have performed during the halftime of a San Francisco 49ers football game in Candlestick Park, at a halftime in the ll Rainbow Classic in Hawaii, have performed in Idaho States Minidome, at Weber State College, BYU, U of U., Snow College and at numerous local high schools. Their future list of performances are many including a trip to the Universiy of Las Vegas on February 14th, a performance during the halftime of a Utah Jazz game on Feb. 23rd, a halftime performance at the Denver Nuggets NBA game in Denver which will be televised nationally and on July 4th a trip to Cornado Island for their celebration. Felt it was time Ive been working in this business for a long time now and it just seemed that Tami was ready to do something herself She couldnt do it in Clinton with two programs so similar, said 17 Utah cities To get on the team, prospective members audition once each year and when the girls reach 15 years-of-agor a certain height, they retire The team of Superkids performs in three groups with the minis averaging age 5. the smalls averaging age 8 and the superkids averaging age 11 They perform in a colorful arrangement of red and white with blue flags What they wear? a is Superkids organization. Fund raisers are held for girls who want to participate with non-prof- it travel taken by car, bus, or plane, depending on location of performance The dressing apparrell for the team is a red tank leotard, white knee socks and white ballet shoes to class While traveling the girls take a'ong their red and white warm-u- p suits with a matching traveling bag and shirt. Both are personalized with Superkids and the girls first name on them. These are matched with red and white shoes. While performing the group will wear sleevless, high necked red sequin leotards with matching short skirt This also includes red sequin nutts, white knee socks and white ballet shoes And mothers usually dont mind the fact they must style their daughter's hair all like Alice in Wonderland tied with a big red bow And they arent allowed to cut then hair without permission of Tami "It is my intent to help the girls gain and personal poise and to help them develop a love of performing well and eliminate fear as a performer, said Tami Alleen So quickly Tami went to work to put together one of the states top drill teams. She started with 20 girls that had some experience in Clinton, with all the other virtually new to the program. Its remarkable what has been done since August of last year. Today w e have 75 girls w here last fall, nearly every one was new. Believe me, the standing ovations these girls receive are well deserved for the amount of work and desire they have put in, said Alleen. The Superkids range in ages from 4 thru 15 and are drawn together from prepares her daughter's hair for Superkid function. Gena, her the the 68 Superkids that belong to the Dance Expressions Studio. one daughter, mothers are Superkids's earning a nickname as 'super moms.' ANN LAUGHTER is r. (I I) SUPERKIDS also are fitted with their traveling uniforms and personalized bags. They're all set to go here. ( - studio in Riverdale. Holding pose in their colorful sequin uniforms at the Dance Expression and Trad Smith. Bottom row in Bon Julie I their batons are Smith, Cami Cheri to (I. Bambrough, r.) top row, I Holli Lasater. and splits, Gena Laughter SIX SUPERKDS - .. , . with their flag dressed in their sequins. The Superkids, some 68 strong, have performed California, Hawaii and severall places around the state of Utah. SUPERKIDS in |
