{"id":44866,"date":"2026-10-30T17:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-30T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/schools.risd.org\/BerknerHS\/?p=44866"},"modified":"2026-11-06T14:23:02","modified_gmt":"2026-11-06T20:23:02","slug":"dancing-to-her-own-count-berkner-dancer-finds-her-place-on-the-team","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/schools.risd.org\/BerknerHS\/dancing-to-her-own-count-berkner-dancer-finds-her-place-on-the-team\/","title":{"rendered":"Dancing to Her Own Count: Berkner Dancer Finds Her Place on the Team","gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"text"}]},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">For many young dancers, the dream of being on a dance team in high school is one they want to achieve. From drill, country western, and multiple heritage performance-based groups in RISD, students have numerous opportunities to find their place to perform. With practice and persistence, all RISD students can find their place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Brianna Mora is a sophomore at Berkner High School and is a first-year member of the Bandoleras drill team and Folkl\u00f3rico team. She\u2019s also blind and has limited remaining vision, which means learning and performing choreography can look a little different for her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Watching her perform, you see a girl who loves to dance. From dancing on the field to sharing her culture with others, she is a proud member of the two groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Mora was inspired to try out for the Bandoleras by a family friend who had been on the team. After watching Folklorico perform at a pep rally, she also decided to join the group too.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">While having limited sight can present challenges while dancing, Mora and Bandoleras director Marina Miller both see it as a way to enhance Mora\u2019s performances. Despite the fact that learning routines can be a longer process,&nbsp; Mora is able to remember choreography through the counts. This skill is extremely important, according to Miller, because \u201cshe can\u2019t rely on trying to fake it by looking at someone else\u201d, meaning she needs to be confident in her understanding of the dance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">And then there\u2019s the part of dance she enjoys most: performing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI really enjoy performing,\u201d Mora said. \u201cI know a lot of dancers get stage fright, but I always joke that I can\u2019t relate; I can\u2019t really see people, I don\u2019t get stage fright.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Her sense of humor offers a glimpse into her personality, but her confidence onstage also reflects how comfortable she feels doing what she loves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Mora also credits her ability to learn new dances to learning how to advocate for herself and communicate what she needs. With support from her teammates, coaches, and her district mobility specialist and visual impairment support, she has found strategies that help her succeed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cLast year, all of her teachers and I had the opportunity to test simulation goggles, so we could live in her shoes. It was so eye-opening to me. It makes you appreciate her ability to overcome and adapt.\u201d&nbsp; Mora had an idea to have her teammates experience the goggles as well so they would be able to understand the challenges she navigates every day.&nbsp; \u201cWe\u2019ve learned that what\u2019s good for her is good for the whole. It makes us a better team\u201d, says Miller.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Her teammates and directors are all willing to help her navigate new spaces and spend extra time learning choreography.&nbsp; This is especially important in football stadiums because of the variety of obstacles that the area can present. Miller specifically explains that \u201csomeone will walk out with her\u201d so she can have the full entrance and exit experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Though Mora\u2019s blindness is progressive, she still has big dreams for her future. She plans to continue dancing, with a goal to become a choreographer one day and to run her own dance studio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Her story is a reminder that finding a place on a team isn\u2019t always about doing things the same way as everyone else. Sometimes, it means learning what works for you, trusting your abilities and having the support beside you to help achieve your dreams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">For Mora, dance has been a part of her life since childhood. Now, with two teams behind her and bigger dreams ahead, she\u2019s continuing to find her place in the spotlight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-2 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"720\" height=\"960\" data-id=\"44868\" src=\"https:\/\/schools.risd.org\/BerknerHS\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/11\/IMG_2927.jpeg\" alt=\"Dancing to Her Own Count: Berkner Dancer Finds Her Place on the Team\" class=\"wp-image-44868\" srcset=\"https:\/\/schools.risd.org\/BerknerHS\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/11\/IMG_2927.jpeg 720w, https:\/\/schools.risd.org\/BerknerHS\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/11\/IMG_2927-225x300.jpeg 225w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"1024\" data-id=\"44869\" src=\"https:\/\/schools.risd.org\/BerknerHS\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/11\/IMG_2924-1152x1536-1-768x1024.jpeg\" alt=\"Dancing to Her Own Count: Berkner Dancer Finds Her Place on the Team\" class=\"wp-image-44869\" srcset=\"https:\/\/schools.risd.org\/BerknerHS\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/11\/IMG_2924-1152x1536-1-768x1024.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/schools.risd.org\/BerknerHS\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/11\/IMG_2924-1152x1536-1-225x300.jpeg 225w, https:\/\/schools.risd.org\/BerknerHS\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/11\/IMG_2924-1152x1536-1.jpeg 1152w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n","protected":false,"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"html"}]},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Brianna Mora doesn\u2019t need to see every move to know her next step. The blind Berkner High School sophomore uses her experience, a sharp sense of rhythm and support from her teammates to perform with the Bandoleras drill team and Folkl\u00f3rico team. For Mora, the joy of dance is worth overcoming every challenge.<\/p>\n","protected":false,"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"html"}]},"author":2,"featured_media":44867,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44866","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/schools.risd.org\/BerknerHS\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/11\/Brianna_2.jpg",1122,801,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/schools.risd.org\/BerknerHS\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/11\/Brianna_2-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/schools.risd.org\/BerknerHS\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/11\/Brianna_2-300x214.jpg",300,214,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/schools.risd.org\/BerknerHS\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/11\/Brianna_2-768x548.jpg",768,548,true],"large":["https:\/\/schools.risd.org\/BerknerHS\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/11\/Brianna_2-1024x731.jpg",1024,731,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/schools.risd.org\/BerknerHS\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/11\/Brianna_2.jpg",1122,801,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/schools.risd.org\/BerknerHS\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/11\/Brianna_2.jpg",1122,801,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"RISD","author_link":"https:\/\/schools.risd.org\/BerknerHS\/author\/bprewitt\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Brianna Mora doesn\u2019t need to see every move to know her next step. The blind Berkner High School sophomore uses her experience, a sharp sense of rhythm and support from her teammates to perform with the Bandoleras drill team and Folkl\u00f3rico team. For Mora, the joy of dance is worth overcoming every challenge.","publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"link","format":"url"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/schools.risd.org\/BerknerHS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44866","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/schools.risd.org\/BerknerHS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/schools.risd.org\/BerknerHS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/schools.risd.org\/BerknerHS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/schools.risd.org\/BerknerHS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44866"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/schools.risd.org\/BerknerHS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44866\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44871,"href":"https:\/\/schools.risd.org\/BerknerHS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44866\/revisions\/44871"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/schools.risd.org\/BerknerHS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44867"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/schools.risd.org\/BerknerHS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44866"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/schools.risd.org\/BerknerHS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44866"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/schools.risd.org\/BerknerHS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44866"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}