Years of dedication and countless hours spent in a gym this year paid off for Powell High School senior dancer Anna Smith, when she was named to the All-State dance team.

“There’s no better feeling than knowing that your hard work paid off,” Smith said.

Returning to the state competition as a team this year for the first time since 2022, she said that this experience was different from her freshman and sophomore years competing at the Ford Wyoming Center in Casper, with a larger crowd in attendance this time around.

“I’ve gone to state twice previously but this year was completely different,” Smith said. “My freshman and sophomore years were right after Covid so there wasn’t a very large audience or many competitors. We also had a smaller team at the time. This year was so much more fun because the entire events center was packed.”

She said that she enjoys performing in front of larger crowds because the adrenaline rush is “just that much bigger.”

Smith said the team was admittedly nervous before their jazz routine but got the jitters out and ended up with a second place finish.

“I’ve never been one to get super emotional over dance awards but I will never forget the feeling when they called Powell for runner-up. I started crying tears of joy as our whole team jumped up for a group hug,” Smith said.

The team puts in the work to be successful. She said they spend four days a week practicing at the Westside Elementary gym while also attending Upstage Dance Academy in the evenings to total around 11 hours dancing per week.

Auditioning is a process that is not unfamiliar to Smith, but she said the process this year was something she had not participated in before.

“I’ve done plenty of auditions but I have never participated in one quite like this,” Smith said. “We were sent a minute-and-a-half of choreography that we had to memorize on our own at home and then perform it for a judge over Zoom. It was pretty intimidating going into it because I was just dancing by myself in front of an iPad in the gym at Westside.”

She said she went through the process alongside fellow senior Kinsley Braten, taking turns dancing, performing the choreography while also showing their best jumps and turns.

Smith said she has been dancing for around seven years, saying she is happy with her growth even from her freshman year.

“Anna is an exquisite dancer,” coach Kelsi Koritnik said. “I was not at all shocked that she was selected to be on the All-State dance team. She is not only an exceptional dancer, but she is an amazing student-athlete and member of our community.”

Outside of the high school dance team she said her favorite style of dance is contemporary, something she says caused her to lean towards jazz in past high school years but she learned to love hip-hop this season.

“My favorite dance style is contemporary, but the only dance team categories that you can compete in are jazz and hip-hop so normally I choose jazz because you can incorporate contemporary movements in it, but this year I grew to love hip-hop. Our team had so much fun together practicing and performing our hip-hop routine together,” Smith said. “I am so proud of each of the girls on our team and our lovely new coach for everything that they put into the season.”

She said dance has taught her a lot about hard work, but especially this year it also taught her the importance of being in a positive environment while also bringing a positive attitude of her own each day.

As part of the All-State team, Smith will perform with the All-State group one more time as part of a University of Wyoming women’s basketball game in March.

Moving forward she is uncertain of where she wants to attend college, but she knows that dance will be involved in her future.

“I am not completely set on where I want to go to college, but if I attend a school with a dance team I will 100% be doing that,” Smith said. “If the school I pick has no team, then I will probably take actual college dance classes and minor in dance alongside majoring in nursing. I hope to coach or team dance to some extent when I am older.”