Dancing with Xcalibur is an annual showcase that the Carlsbad Xcalibur dance team hosts for the community to attend. Along with being a fun performance in itself, the show doubles as a fundraiser to help raise money for the teams dance competitions.
This event takes place annually on January 8th as a friendly competition between teams. Each group consists of 2-3 girls and 2-3 boys that compete their dances against each other in a show.
“Dancing with Xcalibur is basically a remake of Dancing with the Stars but with our dance team at Carlsbad High School,” sophomore Hailey Barrelli said.
The girls act as the pros and the boys act as the celebrities; mirroring the popular television show. The groups are chosen by two girls on Xcalibur teaming up and each partner choosing a boy to dance with.
“The girls got to choose their partners and then each group pulled out a hat on what genre of dance they had,” junior Taytem Walker said.
The girls choreographed the dance ahead of time,then they taught the boys the moves and fixed anything that needed revising. The preparation ahead of time helped practices go smoothly and feel productive.
“The practices were really fun and we worked really hard,” freshman Keira Segal said. “We came in with the choreography prepared and we practiced it until we all knew the dance really well.”
Though the dances are only around a minute to a minute and thirty seconds long, it still took time and commitment to perfect the dances , especially considering the inexperienced contenders. The time spent behind the scenes consists of practicing and memorization of the dances, something that not all people can commit to.
“Sometimes the boys are flaky and it’s kind of hard to find guys who are able to come to all the practices and go to the show,” Walker said.
Along with the work that goes into making these routines look amazing, it is also a super fun experience for the girls and guys. Whether new friendships are formed or existing ones strengthen, dance brings people closer together.
“A lot of the time the guys end up being friends, so it’s like a group of people hanging out,” sophomore Anna Whitney said.
There is more to each group than just the dance moves. The groups came up with a theme, made costumes and matched the dances to music.
“Each group creates a theme for their dance, they create their own music and cuts, costumes and then they perform at the fundraiser,” Xcalibur Coach Jess Huth said.
After the dress rehearsal, the audience sat down and the show started. This year, there were 8 teams that competed against each other and a full crowd.
“The judges decide who they want to perform in the top three to win after watching all the performers. Then, the top three perform and the audience votes on whose routine was their favorite” freshman Ruby Bell said.
The judges are the coaches of Carlsbad Varsity, Carlsbad Xcalibur and Carlsbad Royals. The judges/coaches are very experienced on what great performances look like and all are overly qualified to judge the competition.
“We had a few different categories on the score sheet. We had an overall impression category which is really important, choreography, use of style, showmanship and energy,” Huth said.
The 2026 Dancing with Xcalibur winners were Phoebe Fatula and Keira Segal with dancers Wyatt Heath and Max Parks. Their minions theme caught the attention of the audience and the judges thought the routine was clean and entertaining.
“Winning meant a lot to me because of how hard we worked. It was very fun,special and cool because it was our first time doing this competition,” Fatula said.
Each ticket was $7 for students and $10 for normal admission and all the money went to the booster moms. All the fundraiser money goes towards Xcalibur’s competition season.
“The money goes to supporting our nationals and all the aspects of competition season. Such as choreographers, fees, the bus and costumes,” Barrelli said.
Overall, the dancers put so much hard work into this performance and the outcome of the fundraiser was great for Xcalibur. Many believe this fundraiser is a great way to have fun while also raising money for the dance team.
“I think it is great to show boys specifically what dance is and what it entails. It is not as easy as it may look, you have to remember the counts and the steps and all the little things,” Huth said.
