by Dennis Dalman
editor@thenewsleaders.com
For the better part of a day, Katlyn Ramseth was in a daze of disbelief, wondering if it was all just a dream.
But no, it wasn’t a dream. She and her Sabre dance team did, in fact, earn the class AA high-kick state championship Feb. 14 at Minneapolis Target Center.
“We had this dream for so long, and now we know that dreams come true,” Ramseth told the Sartell Newsleader the day after the big win.
Ramseth, a senior, is the daughter of Karen and Erik Ramseth of Sartell. She is a team captain for the Sabre dancers, along with Miranda Garman. Both were named to the state’s All-Tournament team.
“It felt so perfect, our dancing,” she said. “Nothing could have been better. We were so happy with how we danced.”
Katlyn’s sister, Kelsey, also knows dreams come true. Kelsey was a Sabre dancer in 2011, when the team also took the high-kick state championship. In the three years since, the team took second place every time at the state tournament. Kelsey is now a student at the University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, where she is studying nursing.
At the high-kick competition at Target Center, Kelsey was in the audience, proud of her sister, reliving happy memories and cheering loudly for the Sabre team. Also cheering were Katlyn’s parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and so many other Sabre fans.
The winning routine was a three-minute 27-second number danced to a combination of a Brittney Spears’ song called Work, blended with another pop tune. The incredibly vigorous and exhausting dance was made to look easy, effortless and graceful by the expert, disciplined dancers.
High-kick dancing involves a lot more than just kicking high, Katlyn noted.
“That dance took so much time to perfect,” Katlyn said. “Hours and hours of work. We would do our drills every day to perfect our timing.”
After their triumph, the dancers returned to their Minneapolis hotel where they celebrated with music and pizza.
“We also got cream puffs – 180 of them – to celebrate,” Katlyn said.
Later the next day, Sunday, Katlyn – exhausted by the dancing and by emotional exhilaration – had a chance to drift into a much-deserved sleep.
After graduation, Katyln plans to study nursing, like her sister, at UND, Grand Forks.
They are both bound to fulfill their career dreams because both sisters know very well how dreams, backed by talent, discipline and hard work, can and do come true.
The 2011 Sartell Sabre Dance team took the high-kick state championship in 2011. Kelsey Ramseth is in the second row, fifth from left.
Katlyn and Kelsey Ramseth were both on Sabre Dance teams that won high-kick state championships – Kelsey’s team in 2011 and Katlyn’s just last week.
Elated after their high-kick championship, the Sartell Sabre Dance team gathers for a group portrait at Target Center. Katlyn Ramseth is in the first row, fourth from left.