WMU Broncos Break Out Their Victory Dance

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Western Michigan University's dance team wasn't sure how it would stack up against the rest of the nation.

Now it knows the answer: Pretty darn well.

The Broncos won the National Dance Alliance Open Division championship Friday in Daytona Beach, Fla.

WMU's score of 9.08 beat second-place Georgia Southern (9.06). Florida State (8.96), Southern Methodist (8.96) and Georgia (8.81) rounded out the top five.

The Broncos finished Thursday's preliminaries in third place out of 16 teams, and as one of the nine teams to move on.

``We changed the stuff they didn't like about the dance ... got up really early (Friday) morning and performed pretty well. It turns out we won,'' said senior and team co-captain Julie Stevens. ``The first day we came in third, which we figured was a good spot to be in. We didn't want to be in first and have everyone looking out for us.

``The whole time, before we got to the stage, our focus was on not worrying about other teams, just worrying about ourselves and beating our preliminary score.''

The Open Division has the fewest constraints on what a team is allowed to do; however, the competition is not considered as great as Division I-A. Next year, Stevens said, if WMU competes again, it'll do so in the highest division.

``Being our first year, we didn't want to come in with no one knowing our name and get freaked out (by all the big names). ... When one of the judges gave our score sheet back to us, she said `You guys should be competing in Division I-A.' It was a big compliment.''

Georgia Red Hotz Plan To Spice Up Competition

BY MATT BARKSDALE
The Red & Black

The Red Hotz, the University's competitive dance team, is in Daytona Beach today competing in the National Dance Association College Nationals.

The team consists of nine students, all of whom have high expectations for the exciting competition.

"We feel we have a really good chance," said captain Ashley Britt, a senior from Fayetteville.

"On Saturday (March 24) we had a competition and our routine looked good."

Last year at Nationals, the Red Hotz finished second and are hoping the team's work ethic pays off this year with a title.

"We are a very committed group of dancers and cannot wait to represent UGA at Nationals," said Orian Edelman, a junior from Roswell.

The Red Hotz team started six years ago. Many people confuse the team with the Dance Dogs, who perform at basketball games.

"We are more of a competitive team, representing UGA on a national level," said Britt. "It is the only team that travels to compete against other nationally ranked teams as well."

The group performs at many University events such as charity functions and philanthropic events for Greek organizations. These events include HERO, Tailgate for the Team and Greek Grind.

Although they only are considered a club team by the University, the Red Hotz are committed to a tough standard of excellence.

"There are a lot of requirements they have to do to be selected on to the team," Britt said.

"We teach a routine they have to do. Then they also have to make up their own routine and have some required skills."

The team practices two to three times a week for two hours each time. The Red Hotz recently competed in the Showstopper Competition in Atlanta, where they received platinum, the highest award in the show.

The lone seniors on the team, Britt and co-captain Valerie Barth, have been on the team since they were freshmen.

Without the team, college would have been a lot different for Britt.

"It's been great. I have met my best friends and my roommate right now. There are nine of us on the team, and we have all become really close and have so much fun together."

NC State Dance And Cheer Teams Head South For National Competition

After three finishes in the top 3 last year, the teams head back to Daytona Beach hoping for repeat performances of recent success

By Ryan Tice
The Technician

Reynolds Coliseum was abuzz with N.C. State fans Sunday night. The Wolfpack faithful were there to support the teams that are normally leading the cheers for the basketball and football squads.

Sunday night marked an annual event for the dance and cheerleading teams, as they held their dress rehearsal in preparation for the National Cheer and Dance competition this Thursday and Friday.

The mascots, who have their own competition at nationals, participated Sunday, and the cheerleading and dance teams welcomed the all-girls club cheer team for the first time.

"It brought in more fans, the turnout was great," senior coed cheerleader Jessica Brogden said of having the crowd at the dress rehearsal. "Having a crowd helps us out; it gives us a similar atmosphere to nationals. Normally we are performing at practice only in front of our coaches."

Last year coach Harold Trammel's coed cheer squad brought home national runner-up honors from Daytona Beach in the coed division. In addition, Mr. Wuf brought home a national title in the mascot competition. This year, Trammel expects more of the same to give the Pack its fifth national cheerleading title.

"The teams that have done well for [the University] are the ones that take the floor as a team," Trammel said. "Our team strength this year is performing as a team, instead of just going out there as a bunch of talented individuals."

The cheerleading team is not only going out to support itself and the University, though. While performing on the mat, each will have women's head basketball coach Kay Yow on their hearts and a pink shoelace on their left shoe in support of her latest battle with cancer.

After double checking the rule book, the team decided the shoelace was going to become part of its uniform on perhaps its biggest stage.

"We needed to show our support for her because she's been so great for us and the school," junior Mike Hudak said. "We want to show how thankful we are to her. She's a big deal, and we will be wearing [the shoelaces] and supporting Coach Yow proudly in Daytona."

This year, the cheer team is younger, according to Brogden, but also better.

"There [are] not many older kids; there is less experience," she said. "Normally, that would be a weakness, but it's really not because we have so much talent."

The dance team that took third in the national competition last year is also improved, according to coach Erika Holmes. Holmes expects nothing less than a repeat of last year's finish from her team.

"Our strength as a team this year is our technical skill, and that is what is needed to win," Holmes said. "We have definitely improved since last year. We are able to have more of our team doing the same skills instead of breaking things off. Every girl on the floor can do everything I need them to."

While the whole dance team gets to travel down to Daytona, only 14 team members are taking part in the competition. In contrast, most teams will compete up to 18 dancers, according to Holmes, but she doesn't see that as a problem.

"I prefer to have quality over quantity, " she said. "We are only as strong as our weakest link."

This is the only competition for all three teams and the mascot, so there is added pressure, both coaches agreed.

"As soon as we push play, that's it. There's no timeouts. There's no subbing people in, no seeing who you're matched up against," Trammel said. "This is our one chance to cheer for ourselves."

Holmes agreed and said hosting Sunday's dress rehearsal was a way to see who can perform under the pressure. "In front of a crowd is when I can tell if someone needs help in a section. I can see their skills under pressure," she said.

Brogden said fans can expect a strong showing from all teams in Daytona.

"We can absolutely finish better than last year. Last year we took second, and we had a drop. This year, we aren't going to let anything keep us down," Brogden said. "We are going to go out there and put it all on the mat."

UCA Dance Team To Host Tryouts

CONWAY, Ark- The University of Central Arkansas Honeybear Dance Team will host tryouts next week, beginning on Tuesday April 10. The dates of the tryouts are as follows:

TRYOUT TIMES
Tuesday, April 10th: 12:45 p.m. - Informational meeting in lobby of Farris Center.
Friday, April 13th: 5 p.m.-8 p.m. - Learn the tryout routine.
Saturday, April 14th: 9 a.m. - Tryouts Begin

All tryout activities will take place in UCA's Farris Center. Tryouts are open to the public.

For more information contact coach Susan O'Keefe at 908-2541 or e-mail her at sfokeefe@hotmail.com.

Mount Union College Dance Team To Hold Charity Dance Invitational

Dancing to Save Lives is the name of the charity dance invitational that the Mount Union College Dance Team will hold on Sunday, April 1 from 4:30 to 7 p.m. in the Mount Union college gymnasium.

Organized by senior dance team member Jessica Nola, a biology major from Industry, PA, the goal of the event is to collect donations for Relay for Life.

Four other schools will be participating in the event including Heidelberg College, Hiram College, Marietta College and Kennedy Catholic High School from Hermitage, PA.

The event is free and open to the public, although donations for Relay for Life are welcomed and appreciated.

“I hope that Dancing to Save Lives will become an annual event for the younger team members to carry on through the years,” said Nola.

Mount Union’s Dance Team provides entertainment at Purple Raider home basketball games and various other events on campus in an effort to promote spirit throughout the year. This year’s team, made up of 17 members, is captained by senior Kristy Palmeri, a biology major from Northfield Village and junior Lauren Klaas, a psychology major from Berea.

In addition to the charity dance invitational, Mount Union’s Dance Team also performed this year at the Quicken Loans Arena during pre-game of a Cleveland Cavaliers contest and at Mount Union Night at a Youngstown Steelhounds game.

Marist Dance Team Enters First Competition, Hopes For More

By Ashley Mahon
The Circle

Saturday, March 24 marked a new era for the Marist College Dance Team. The team, which had previously only performed at football and basketball games on campus, participated in their first intercollegiate contest at a dance competition in Westfield, Massachusetts.

The competition was hosted by the Universal Dance Association on the Westfield State University campus and had over twenty different schools participating. Junior team member and incoming captain Shannon Kozibroda, thought that the team did well overall.

"Since it was our first competition we didn't have high expectations so we were very happy with how we placed. Just the overall experience of competing was something new for the school and we hope that we can add more competitions into our schedule for next year," she said.

The team, which is comprised of sixteen girls from every grade level, functions as a club sport, like the cheerleading team, which puts them under the direction of both the Athletics Department and SGA.

Though the team does not have a coach, they are led by three captains that are elected after the previous season. The captains for next year were chosen last week and are comprised of juniors Meghann Pursell and Shannon Kozibroda, and sophomore Nicole Peto. All three said they look forward to the upcoming season and hope that it will be as successful as this year.

"The dance team has taken so many steps forward this season and I believe with the same amount of hard work and dedication, we will only continue to move forward next season," said Nicole Peto.

JSU Diamond Girls Are State Champions

The JSU Diamond Girls, a competitive dance line, competed this past Saturday at the Boutwell Auditorium in Birmingham, Alabama. They won two Platinum Awards and have been named the new Alabama State Dance Champions! They performed a “Hip Hop” and a “Jazz” dance routine.

After each performance they "brought the house down" said Director of Bands, Ken Bodiford. “I am amazed at the talent level of these young ladies. I can’t imagine the number of new student recruits that we would have here at JSU if we had a full blown dance department. When people see the JSU Diamond Girls or the Marching Ballerinas, they automatically assume that we offer a dance degree,” says Bodiford.

The founder of the Diamond Girls is Mrs. Joy Andrews of Joy’s Dance Studio in Alabaster, AL. The JSU Diamond Girls are an extension of the Marching Ballerinas and are all current members of the Marching Southerners.

For more on the Diamond Girls including a College Dance Team Central feature from September Click Here