Revere High School (RHS) junior Kayleigh Pestotnik used her love and passion for dance to revive Revere High School’s dance team. The old dance team was disbanded four years ago, and no one had taken action in bringing it back until now.
The team performed at pep rallies, basketball games, and more to bring spirit to students. Pestotnik worked with faculty and students to bring back the team successfully and bring attention to her goal. Teachers Sarah Zustin and Rebecca Dolosich worked with each other and Pestotnik to help develop the team once again. Pestotnik desires to bring back another source of spirit and involvement for students to participate in. She hopes the dance team returning to Revere will allow students to form new connections, try something new, and participate in a new experience.
Pestotnik first discovered the history of Revere’s dance team from Rebecca Dolosich, the former dance coach. Pestotnik became interested in the team and wanted to be a part of it. She has been dancing her whole life and was motivated to bring some of her dance life to Revere. The team initially disbanded due to insufficient participants or motivation to keep it alive. The dance team did not have as much passion for dance as Pestotnik expresses she has.
“[Dolosich] brought it up saying . . . she used to be the coach for the dance team, and I [lit] up because I’ve been dancing since I was three. . . . Since I’m a competitive dancer; I like dancing, so that’s why I wanted to bring it back,” Pestotnik said.
Bringing the dance team back required someone with as much passion for it as Pestotnik. She devotes hours of effort to the sport. Pestotnik believes that to make the team a success, everyone participating must put in equal effort. She hopes to see some of her dedication to dance in her teammates so that the team can flourish and succeed.
“[Dancing] means everything to me. I tell everyone that if I wasn’t a dancer, I’m not who I am today. . . . I like showing emotion through movement. . . . I don’t like saying that you have to be good at dancing, but I feel you have to have some style to it; . . . everyone has to contribute, not just one or two people. Everyone has to contribute,” Pestotnik said.
Art teacher Sarah Zustin had students express interest in starting a dance team, which inspired her to get involved. Zustin discussed the team with Dolosich and worked together to decide its future. To start this process, Zustin gained some knowledge from Dolosich about the old team. She learned information such as their old name and performance structure. Zustin became one of the co-advisors to involve herself in a fun team and bring back some of her dance experience.
“I went to [Dolosich], and she had previously been the coach for the Reverettes, I think that’s what they were called. . . . We started working together to bring it back in a sense. . . . We wanted to start it as a club, . . . something extracurricular and fun. . . . I was in a dance club myself in high school, and I thought it was really fun,” Zustin said.
Students who caught wind of the dance team approached Dolosich about starting the team again. Dolosich is excited about a new and improved team with fresh talent. She was not in the position to bring the team back herself, so it was important for her to have students take charge. Dolosich hopes to see the team bring more spirit than before and make it a stress-free club that all can enjoy.
“At first, no one wanted to take [the dance team] over, but I had too many commitments to continue coaching at the time, and some of the students actually came and advocated to bring it back, which was really nice. . . . I think it’s fun to have . . . things that aren’t so competitive where [students can] . . . come together and just have a really good time and perform and go out and do something that represents our school that isn’t necessarily a win or lose,” Dolosich said.
Those involved in the dance team wanted a way to contribute even more spirit and happiness to Revere. The dance team was a way for students to feel exhilarated during pep rallies, and add more enthusiasm to every basketball game. Zustin thinks Revere should be more spirited as it was four years ago when the dance team was still around.
“I’m hoping to see the team just bring another level of spirit to Revere; I think we do need sort of an upgrade with our spirit, especially at pep rallies and basketball games. . . . We want to do not just the boys basketball, but girls as well, because I feel the girls don’t really get represented as much as the boys,” Zustin said.
Zustin and Dolosich are still working to get the team started and begin auditions for the students. The team will not begin performing until next basketball season, but auditions are said to be held in spring of 2025. Pestotnik hopes students show up and show out to grow Revere’s school spirit and give everyone a chance to have some fun.
