Photo belongs to the Panorama Dance Team

The Panorama Dance Team recently competed at the 2026 Iowa State Dance/Drill Team Association Championships in Des Moines in early December, as Head Coach Kristi Vance acknowledges the growth of the program.

Vance shares that she’s been dancing herself for 50 years, has owned the Main Street Dance Studios in Panora for 34 years, and has been Panorama’s Dance Coach for 21 years. She admits that Panorama is a smaller school, so numbers fluctuate, but there’s many girls who participate in their Middle School Dance Team and Youth program. 

Vance explains the Varsity squad has 12 girls and she’s expecting 15 to be on the team next year. She elaborates on one of the challenges the Panthers face at competitions.

“Sometimes as a small school, we have to compete against schools that are private, but bigger. So numbers can be, with formations, you can do so many cool things, so yes we want to grow our program, so if you’re out there thinking about doing dance, sign up, it’s a wonderful experience.”

Panorama had five soloists place inside the top-10 at the ISDTA Championships, including Nella Rivas, Hadley Fitch, Cali Knudsen, Addison Wagner, and Maci Bauer, in addition to being honored with a Distinguished Academic Award.