DESTREHAN, LA- The Desty Darlings are the dance team of Destrehan High School and are under the direction of Micque Voges and Hailee Weber. The Desty Darlings are an award winning dance team that compete in multiple competitions on both the state and national level, proudly representing Destrehan High School.

Layla Ruffin is the captain of the Destys this year and has been on the team for 4 years.

“It’s all about getting in our zone,” Ruffin says, “so, before all of our competitions, we have team bonding and we all talk about, of course, how excited we are for the competition and what we’re going to do: go out there and kill it.”

Many girls on the team look up to Layla for her dedication and resilience throughout the years.

She’s just really good at what she does,” says Taylor Brown, co-captain of the Destys. “She’s such a good leader and she knows what she’s doing, she’s always on top of what needs to be done.She knows when it needs to be done at what time and I always just look up for that and she has a strong work ethic.”

“Nothing can hurt her and she just shows perseverance in everything she does,” says Taylor Guberc, a junior on the team.

“I look up to Layla a lot mostly because she’s our captain and our officers because they’re always cheering us on and they like to give us inspiration on how to like do better and they always push us and motivate us,” says Julia Haslauer, a freshman on the team.

Not only are these girls team members, but they also consider themselves sisters in a way due to how much time they spend with each other.

“Even though like every year a group leaves like our seniors leave-. And we always stick together no matter like, if somebody graduated or if they’re still here,” says Ruffin.

“We’re really close,” says Brown. “We spend our whole lives in this building.”

This past year, the Desty Darlings competed at the National Dance Team Championship hosted by UDA, located at the ESPN Wide World of Sports in Walt Disney World. The Destys placed 10th in the nation for hip-hop and were recognized by the school board.

Looking into this competition season, I asked some desties how theyre feeling about this upcoming season and what they are looking forward to.

“Going to Disney and being able to dance with all my girls that worked just as hard as I did and dancing on the nationals mat,” says Ruffin.

“Competing is just, it’s a totally different experience and going to Disney World with the team, it just brings you so much closer together,” says Brown.

“Probably when we go to nationals to Disney World,” says Kaitlyn Mizell, a sophomore on the team. “I think that’s the most adrenaline like we have and I think it’s really fun.

“I’m really just looking forward to compete because it’s a lot of fun and the rush, it just feels amazing once you’re done,” says Julia Haslauer.

Micque Voges, director of the Desty Darlings, says, “Last year, placing 10th in the nation, they got a taste of what it was like to be rewarded for hard work and so, they want it again, they’re hungry for it.”

With Nationals in Walt Disney World in sight, these girl are working harder than ever in order to match their performance from last year which gave them a national spotlight throughout the country. 

“I feel like we’re going to do very well,” says Voges, “because the girls have been preparing and they’re very determined to do the best they can do.”

Though the national competition is months away in February, the Destys are determined to do the best they can in order to secure another national title for Destrehan High School.