By Katie Jeffries
KYKernel.com
Dawn Duncan Walters, a veteran of the dance program, was named head coach of the UK Dance Cats over the summer.
A graduate of the class of ’87, Walters was on the UK Dance Cats and cheerleading team when she was an undergraduate at UK, including the first ever Dance Cats team in 1984. The Dance Cats said Walters has already made many changes to the way the team runs.
Junior Tara Kleinhenz, a member of the varsity dance team, is excited for what Walters has prepared for the year. The dance team will now not only dance at halftime of basketball games, but football as well. This will give the team more performance practice than in the past.
“Dawn actually creates the choreography rather than having us make it up ourselves,” Kleinhenz said. “We now get choreographers to come in and help with our routines as well as making sure they are sharp enough for performance.”
Walters has created a Facebook fan page for those interested in the dance team. The page is steadily updated with pictures and descriptions so people can follow exactly what the team is doing through the year.
“The biggest change that we made this year is that the entire team came to camp over the summer,” Walters said. “The junior varsity (white team) and varsity teams (blue team) now practice together and hopefully next year we will be able to take both the blue and white teams to camp.”
The team is currently working on halftime performances but will soon be preparing for the Universal Dance Association National Competition in January. With Walters, the team hopes to be led confidently into UDA Nationals this year.
Walters said the band director and herself are working on a performance for the halftime of the Louisville game set to “Super Freak,” by Rick James, for the band’s Motown theme this year.
“I’ve already had a good friend of mine come in and do some choreography,” Walters said. “His name is Ryan Maag and I feel that it is very important to have outside choreography coming in so that we can do the best we can at nationals.”
Most team members agree Walters has created a stronger bond between the team with her exhilarating personality and motivational mindset. She will continue to unite the team with each other as well as other members of the UK Spirit Group. The members of this group include the cheerleaders, band and dance team, and Walters has already started planning events to unite this group even more.
“Dawn has a great personality,” Kleinhenz said. “She not only is a very caring person for the team, but also for people outside of the dance community. She has an uplifting attitude that encourages everyone to do their best.”
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