FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Tryouts are held in April each year. Visit our website in March or follow us on social media to get more details when they become available.

Our team is quite successful competing at both regional and national competitions. Dance experience, either on a school team or in a studio setting, is not required, but most of our dancers have taken, and continue to take technique classes, anywhere from 2-10 hours per week outside of school. To make the team you will need a moderate level of dance capabilities. Competition experience is beneficial, but not required.

Team practice starts in the Summer, when we meet three days a week and attend a four-day camp. We have a two-week break towards the end of July and early August. During the school year, team members are enrolled in zero and first period and practice five days a week. Occasionally, a practice will be scheduled outside the school day.

The team typically participates in five to six competitions each season. Most competitions are local and there is usually one out-of-state trip to either Orlando, Florida or Las Vegas, Nevada.

The team performs at several school assemblies, football and basketball games. We also host our own Spring Show in May, where we perform competition dances, new pieces, and some student-choreographed dances.

Coach Shannon Steen is a former Los Angeles Laker Girl and currently the choreographer of the Nickelodeon children's show Mutt and Stuff. She is also the choreographer for the children's television series and touring stage shows for Yo Gabba Gabba. She has been performing and choreographing for many years and has several film/TV credits. She also teaches dance technique to several Orange County high schools and studios.

Every year, in the first week of February, El Dorado Dance Team hosts more than 20 Southern California schools at the Golden Hawk Championship dance competition. We will be hosting our annual Golden Hawk Championship on February 7, 2026.