Dance steps, footsteps highlight Spartanette camp

A group of girls got a glimpse of life as a Spartanette last week.

The annual East Ascension High School dance taught basic dance numbers to girls ages 3-13 who hope Friday night lights will someday shine on them during half-time programs at football games.

The campers learned two dances and a finale dance that they do altogether, as well as a “showoff” in a Friday night performance.

More than 150 girls attended the camp in hopes of becoming part of the Spartan tradition.

The tradition meant even more for the program sponsors, who spent many Friday nights entertaining the crowds at halftime.

Sponsor Danielle Bourque and her sister, co-sponsor Alyssa Kling, both danced on the Spartanette team.

“It’s a tradition rich in culture,” said Bourque, a 2004 EAHS graduate. “I see it as a way to giving back for all it did for me.”

Kling, a 2007 EAHS alumnus, said she wants to see the campers revel in the same things she enjoyed as a Spartanette.

“Those were some of my favorite moments during high school,” she said. “Whether it was dancing on Friday nights, competition or just the friends I made, I?loved it all.”

The tradition does not stop with the sisters, both of whom teach in Ascension Parish.

Their mother, Shelly Kling, also enjoyed the revelry of the Friday night lights. EAHS did not have a dance team when she graduated in 1972, but Kling has plenty of fond memories of the Friday nights.

“I just love East Ascension,”?she said. “I want to give back as much as I?can, and I see this as a golden opportunity.”

The event has been an annual tradition several years for Shelly Kling, and her daughters plan to keep it going for quite a while.

“We hope to see our kids follow in our footsteps,” Bourque said.

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