With their techniques, moves and synchronization, the Canettes dance team has wowed crowds during many Coral Shores athletic events.
Throughout the years, the Canettes have won countless competitions to create a prestigious program within the Upper Key community.
2025 marks the 50th year of the Canettes. This year’s team is composed of 17 dancers in grades 9-12, and leading the group is former Canette and fifth-year coach Myndie Pais.
“As a kid, I grew up dancing down here,” she said. “I was a pretty proficient dancer as a kid. I was a cheerleader the previous year and broke my arm, so I thought I should stay on the ground.”
Following her dancing career in high school, Pais went on to be a cheerleader with the Miami Dolphins. Pais said dancing has stayed with her and she eventually came back to work for her alma mater, Coral Shores. She was asked to take the position as coach for the Canettes.
“I cannot do anything remotely close to what the girls do now,” Pais said with a laugh. “I’m so invested in them and so proud of them. I feel like a mom of 17 girls.”
Not long ago, Pais was sifting through a 1975 school yearbook. Inside, she found a photo of Canettes dancer Marlene Douglas (now Bynum) and other members of the first Canettes dance team. Below her photo read “Something new – A delightful addition to CSHS.” It was then when Pais knew 2025 was a special year for the Canettes dance program.
“There were at least 10 of us at the beginning,” Bynum said in an interview with Keys Weekly. “It was a lot of fun. For me, it was really challenging because I didn’t take dance growing up.”
Bynum said the Canettes coach at the time, Marilyn Roebling, was very strict.
“Either you got it or you weren’t there,” Bynum said. “You had to do what you needed to do.”
Bynum’s daughter, Maegan Reda, was also a Canette.
“My mom being one of the first Canettes is definitely a cool element,” Reda said. “For me, it was a very fun environment being a Canette. You were very much a part of a team, a sisterhood of friends.”
Today, Bynum and Reda sit in the stands as they watch a third-generation Canette dance in Kaiya Reda.
“I am definitely proud and amazed that I am watching my daughter do it alongside my mom,” Maegan Reda said. “It’s a very cool feeling.”
Largo Miller was a Canette from 2002 to 2005. A dancer before her high school years, Miller said the team had a legacy they were building.
“It was something I was so wanting to join,” she said. “It was so meaningful during my high school years, creating lifelong friendships and making a deeper connection with the school and community. You’re not just performing; you’re representing the school with pride and heart.”
Miller, too, sits in the stands to watch her daughter and Canette, Saelor, perform.
“It’s a full-circle moment sharing similar traditions and things I did,” Miller said. “I can’t say it enough: they’re athletes as well as dancers. They’re dedicated and spend hours in rehearsal all while excelling in the classroom.”
Bynum said she sees a closer bond between the Canettes and the Coral Shores cheerleading team, which wasn’t always the case in the early days.
“In the beginning it was rough,” she said. “There had always been cheerleaders. The Canettes was a new tradition. There was jealousy at the beginning between the two. It has come a long way. You don’t notice it anymore.”
As coach, Pais said she’s making sure the Canettes are performing at the highest level, and better yet, enjoying the experience with each other. The Canettes are composed of dancers from the three prominent studios in the Upper Keys: On Your Toes, RockStar and Spotlight dance studios. On Your Toes Dance Studio is led by Stephanie Zlockie, whose daughter Brookelyn was a Canette. Her other daughter, Isla, is the current captain.
“The Canettes are a family and we take care of each other,” said Pais. “And the connections just don’t stop when they walk across the stage and graduate. We all keep in touch.”
