Getting ready for the end of her high school dance career, senior Varsity Dance team captain Ivana Petrevski plans for collegiate dancing. 

“Dance means everything to me. It’s such a release, and I love everyone on my team,” Petrevski said. “It just makes my day, if I’m having a bad day I go to dance, and it makes it better.”

Dancing since she was two, Petrevski’s schedule is packed with dance. From being a captain on the Varsity dance team to dancing at Dancers Edge studio she practices almost every day of the week. 

“She works very hard inside and outside of practice and is always pushing not only herself but those around her to work to be the best version of themselves,” Christina D’aristotile assistant Varsity dance coach said.  “Ivana constantly sends videos to us coaches asking for feedback on what she can improve on and always then resends her videos fixing the critiques given to her.”

Even with her constant work to improve Petrevski found some struggles she faced along the way.

“When you’re on a dance team, you have to look identical to everyone else. So, you forget who you actually are,” Petrevski said “It’s hard to find your unique qualities that make you look like a separate dancer from the people on your team.”

With her senior year slowly concluding Petreski hopes to dance competitively in college. She is currently recruited by University of Michigan and the University of Tennessee. With these recruitments came conflicts with her Dance Team.

“Ivana has made a couple sacrifices [in regard to practice for her college recruitment], but she is always making sure she is texting her teammates and coaches to stay on top of everything she missed so she is caught up when she comes back,” she said.

College recruitment events and clinics are a key step in dancing in college. Head Varsity coach Maria Chodnicki danced on the Michigan State collegiate dance team. 

“One of my favorite aspects of being on a collegiate dance team was probably getting to be a part of the college game day experience,” said Chodnicki. “Dancing at multiple sporting events, volunteering and attending several fundraisers in the community and overall representing the school was so inspiring and a very different experience from high school”. 

According to Petrevski’s coaches, collegiate dancing requires a lot of commitment that she possesses.

“She is a great leader and captain to her teammates,” Chodnicki said. “She always will do whatever it takes to work towards her goals and accomplish whatever she has set in her mind”.