Dance impact
A crowd gathered at Barnhill Seafood Spot Saturday afternoon in Matlacha to support the Pine Island Dance Impact Competition Dance Team during its first fish fry fund-raiser.
Carolyn Helin, owner and director of Pine Island Dance, said people began arriving at the event at 11 a.m. and continued to come and go for the remainder of the event.
The girls danced on a black mat that was placed on the gravel parking lot during their performance.
“These girls are awesome dancing in the dirt,” she said. “They are adapting to their surroundings … they are professionals, for sure.”
The girls first served their guests fish outside of the Barnhill Seafood Spot in Matlacha under a tent before they danced a few routines for the crowd who came out to support them. One of the performances included a new routine to “Welcome to the Jungle,” which included all 13 girls.
Sydney Abrams, 11, who joined the team for the first time this year, said she enjoyed giving people their food and dancing to “Welcome to the Jungle.” She is excited about being a member of the team because she wants to become a better dancer.
Cassie Passantino, 14, said she thought their fund-raising event went well. She said although performing is always fun, she thought serving was fun and went well.
“It was the first performance of the year, but I was on the troop last year,” she said.
The 13 girls – ranging in age from 6-16 – who are on the Impact Team, held the event to raise funds for their competitions to help pay for traveling expenses and costumes.
Riley Yoder, 7, said she sold tickets for the event, adding that she sold a lot of them.
Nastassia Milivojevic, 13, said the event made the team a lot of money.
“It will help us in the future,” she said.
Milivojevic said she hopes more people come out to watch them in the future.
“More people should come support us and watch our performances because they are so much fun,” she said, adding that she is excited about everything else the team is going to be doing.
Kylee Anders, 10, also enjoyed performing at the event to the song, “My Boyfriend’s Back.” This is the fourth year the youngster has been on the team.
“I like going to competitions and traveling with my friends,” Anders said.
Ella Passantino, 7, said this is the first year she is dancing on the team, which she enjoys because she is making new friends. The youngster enjoyed dancing to “Tea Party” the most during the performance.
A raffle was also held during the event, which included a good deal of prizes for those who attended.
Emily Garcia, 8, said she helped in giving away the tickets for the raffles, in addition to serving and dancing to “Welcome to the Jungle.”