Southeast Missouri Sundancers Win Top Honor at Kansas State

Sunday, August 20, 2006
By: Marty Mishow
Southeast Missourian

The 35th year of the Southeast Missouri State Sundancers appears to be shaping up as one of the team's best.

Earlier this month, the Sundancers won their division of the college dance team competition at the National Dance Alliance collegiate dance team camp at Kansas State University, earning a bid to compete in next spring's NDA Collegiate Dance Team national competition.

But, while the Sundancers have qualified for nationals several times in the past, what makes their recent accomplishment unique is that for the first time they were awarded the Best Overall Team Trophy during the competition at Kansas State. The award includes a paid bid to the national event, set for April 4 through 8 in Daytona Beach, Fla. The finals will be televised by CBS.

"We've won first in our division before, but we've never won the overall title," Sundancers coach Danielle Alspaugh said. "There were 15 teams and some very large schools, like Kansas State, Iowa State, Wichita State, Wyoming and others.

"As a coach, I could tell we were one of the best teams there, but you never know how it's going to turn out. To beat all the bigger schools was very impressive, a major accomplishment. I was so proud of them. We definitely all cried when it was announced we won."

In addition to the Sundancers' team honors at Kansas State, Brook Rieger was named an NDA All-American. Only seven dancers at the camp received the award.

"That's a huge deal," said Alspaugh, a member of the Sundancers from 1998 through 2001 who earned NDA All-American honors as a senior. "Not a lot of Sundancers have been named All-American in the past 35 years."

The 13 current Sundancers are primarily from the St. Louis area, although Tatianna Cwick attended Cape Girardeau Central High School.

Rieger is from De Soto, Mo. Other squad members from Missouri are Whitney Andrews (O'Fallon), Cara Bigler (Independence), Missy Eggleston (St. Peters), Nikki Eggleston (St. Peters), Stephanie Hoemann (Fenton), Dana Joseph (Bonne Terre), Cassie Mora (Barnhart), Tiffany Williams (Chesterfield) and Katie Middeke (Wentzville).

Rounding out the team are Illinois natives Megan LaTempt (Godfrey) and Leah Wellen (Highland).

"We have some of the best dancers in the nation on our team," Alspaugh said. "And it's not like they just started doing this. All the girls have danced since they were three years old, so they've got a lot of skills."

While it's common knowledge how much time Southeast's intercollegiate athletes spend on their sport, Alspaugh said the same holds true for the Sundancers, who along with the cheerleaders perform at all Southeast home football, men's basketball and women's basketball contests.

"We started practice in June. We practice at least four times a week and they have to condition three times a week on their own," she said. "We do three seasons, so they really have to work at it. And some of them get a little bit of scholarship help, but not much, so they really have to love it.

"I'm proud of all the hard work they have invested this summer representing Southeast at camp and practicing for games and events. The team is eager to start performing and cheering for Southeast athletic teams. We have started this year off with a bang."

The Sundancers' highest finish at nationals has been seventh place, which was accomplished in both 1998 and 1999. Alspaugh was a part of those squads, and she served as captain her senior year.

"As a former Sundancer, I was definitely very, very proud of what the girls accomplished," said Alspaugh, who works in the admissions office at Southeast. "I'm sure all of the Sundancer alumni are proud of this group's accomplishment."

Freshman Becomes First Male On KU’s Rock Chalk Dance Team

By Sophia Maines
Friday, August 11, 2006
Lawrence Journal-World

Tim Flattery didn’t know he was making Kansas University history when he tried out for the traditionally all-female Rock Chalk Dance Team.

He simply wanted to dance.

“I just came to try out,” said Flattery, the first male member of the team, according to those close to the program. “It’s really cool to be (the first) — to open the doors for everybody else.”

Flattery, a freshman, is among 22 dancers on the team that performs at KU sporting events and special festivities. Though his entrance marks a break from tradition, his teammates have embraced him.

“It’s something that we’re going to see more and more,” coach Tasha Ruble said. “I think it was just a matter of time.”

Small town

On Thursday the dancers were in the studio, sweating their way through a heart-pumping practice.

In straight lines, they danced to KU fight songs, swinging their hips and kicking their legs into the air. Flattery danced at the end of one line, holding his head high.

Being the first male on an all-female squad is nothing new for Flattery. He grew up in Onaga, a Pottawatomie County town of about 700.

He started dancing a decade ago after a friend coaxed him into participating in a dance class. Flattery fell in love with dance.

Life can be chaotic, but dance is a release, he said.

“It’s like a world of your own,” he said. “It’s like an escape.”


Tim Flattery (left) works out with female members of the squad during a recent practice. (Photo by Richard Gwin)

“You’re on the dance team?” Flattery recalls skeptics asking. “We’ve never heard of a boy on a dance team.”

But Flattery never hesitated, never feared standing out.

“I had to keep true to myself and keep doing what I love to do,” he said. “I never felt restrictions because I’m a very strong-willed person.”

Flattery was the captain of the high school squad for his sophomore, junior and senior years.

He said he and others used their dance studio training and passion for dance to transform the team. They went to competitions in Texas and Missouri, and gathered accolades.

“We started turning heads,” he said.

But Flattery didn’t want to steal the show. If someone gave him praise, he responded by asking about the entire team’s performance.

“Just because I am a different gender doesn’t mean all the focus has to be on me,” he said. “I’m a team player.”

A new level

Now a dance major at KU, Flattery is confident in his abilities.

“I know how to perform,” he said. “I know how to get the crowd going.”

Finding a spot on the KU dance team isn’t easy, Ruble said. The team has placed among the top five in national competitions in the last three years.

More than 75 students registered for tryouts.

Senior Deena Schaumburg, a Lawrence native, tried out two other times before making the cut this year.

“To me, being on the team is a dream come true,” she said. “I can’t wait until the first game.”

The dancers seek a place in the spotlight viewed by thousands in Memorial Stadium and Allen Fieldhouse.

“I get goose bumps,” co-captain Clara Simmons said of performance. “It’s probably the biggest energy rush.”

The dancers’ schedule will be booked most of the year with football games, basketball games, pep rallies and public appearances at anything from bar mitzvahs to fairs.

“We put in just as much time as athletes do,” said co-captain Krystal Nabity.

During the busy season, it’s not unusual for the dancers to be performing for six hours straight.

The show

Like the rest of the dancers, Flattery can’t wait for performance.

“I have never done any kind of performance in a huge arena like the KU football field or Allen Fieldhouse,” he said. “I can’t wait to get out there.”

And in the process, he hopes his participation opens doors for other male dancers who have the desire and the skills to dance at the collegiate level.

He hopes no one — male or female — is held back because of gender.

“Don’t ever be afraid to go for what you want,” he said. “Never hold back because you think there are restrictions.”

The team will perform Monday during Traditions Night at Memorial Stadium.

“We’re ready,” Flattery said. “We’re ready to show our stuff and get out there.”

UWSP Dance Team, Cheerleaders, Mascots Suspended Pending Investigation

By Patrick Thornton
Stevens Point Journal

The University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point has suspended the student athletic entertainment organization pending the investigation into possible hazing and underage drinking violations during a dance team party last school year.

The University will schedule a hearing for the dance team before the policy and advisory committee for student organizations sometime in late September.

But until that board meets, the university's cheerleaders, dance team and mascot will not be allowed to participate in any University activities, including home football games, said Laura Ketchum-Ciftci, the director of University Centers.

The UWSP football team hosts the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Sept. 16.

Because the complaint was filed against the organization, and not the team, all athletic entertainment groups are affected by the action.

"The decision is up to the students on the advisory committee," Ketchum-Ciftci said. "And in a lot of ways the students are a lot harder on each other than the University would be. I can't tell you what's going to happen, but it is possible that all the members of the athletic entertainment organization could be affected."

Last spring photos surfaced on at least two Web sites of dance team members drinking at an off campus bar. The photos were posted in an online album entitled "UWSP Dance Team Initiation." Some of the photos were sexually suggestive and several of them showed underage students drinking.

"Right now the issue is hanging over all three programs because the only group we can deal with officially is the organization," said Bob Tomlinson, vice chancellor of student affairs . "But if the board determines there is reason for disciplinary action, that could be focused against just one program."

The university reviewed the photos and filed a complaint against the student organization. Members of the team were contacted over the summer, but not everyone involved could be reached, Tomlinson said.

The team's adviser, president and any other members will have a chance to testify at the hearing.

"We aren't going to let this go away," Tomlinson said.

The student panel is made up of roughly 13 members, Ketchum-Ciftci said. The University will spend time at the beginning of the school year training the students on the panel on the procedures for the hearing and the student code of conduct.

"The dance team is part of a student organization and they have a code of conduct to follow like every other organization," she said. "We have done numerous hearings like this before. The sanctions could run from a written warning to probation to possible suspension for up to a semester.

"The students are given rights, but there are also responsibilities."

Jolie Roberts Takes Sacramento State Hornet Girlz To New Heights

College Dance Team Central Exclusive Feature

Sometimes life takes you in new directions, places that you may not see yourself going, and the story has not been any different for Jolie Roberts, head coach of the Sacramento State Hornet Girlz dance team. Just four months after giving birth to a baby girl in 2003, Roberts found herself in charge of a collegiate dance team for the first time, and has developed the squad into one of Sacramento State’s top ambassadors in just a few short years.

Roberts took charge of the team after a close friend and fellow dance colleague was hired to coach the squad, but was forced to remain on bed rest during her pregnancy. She asked Roberts to become an interim director for the season, and was asked by the school to stay on as coach after her friend decided not to return. Although Roberts brought an impressive amount of dance experience to her new job, transition to coaching a collegiate team was a challenge. “To put it mildly,” says Roberts. “I endured my first season of what I call a major learning experience.”

Success was just around the corner, though, as the Hornet Girlz entered the USA Collegiate Nationals in her second season at Sacramento State and promptly won a national championship in the hip-hop division. Drawing on the experience that members of her squad already possessed, she had one of her team members choreograph a hip-hop routine that the squad learned in six weeks prior to nationals. Wearing costumes designed by two of the team members, the squad claimed first place and gained increased media attention in the Sacramento area, appearing on several local news stations. “It was funny because there was still a lot of evolving I was doing as a coach and the team had to go along for the ride,” says Roberts. “It was a nice way to end the season, especially since the Sac State Dance Team hadn’t brought home a title since 1997.”


Although Roberts had no previous dance team experience prior to taking over the Hornet Girlz, she is hardly a stranger to competitive dance and fitness. The Sacramento native started dancing at the age of 11, and competed heavily in the dance scene, even placing third with her partner at the “I Love Dance” nationals in Las Vegas. She began teaching at 15, and rapidly progressed to advance level classes by the time she was 18. She attended Sacramento State at the age of 25 and was a dance major for a year, dancing in the Jazee dance company as well as the Leaps of Faith dance ensemble before graduating with a degree in Humanities and Religious Studies in 2002. Roberts remains active in dance and fitness, teaching step aerobics, body sculpting, and abs attack, while continuing to take dance classes. She also travels to local high schools and offers master classes in jazz. “Dancing is like breathing to me,” says Roberts. “It is a huge part of what defines me as a person.”

For those unfamiliar with the world of collegiate dance teams, it might seem that it’s as easy as showing up and performing with a smile on your face. But that could not be further from the truth. In fact, the training regime that Roberts uses to prepare her squad could rival any football training camp across the country. The Hornet Girlz begin team practices in June, just to make sure that the team is ready for the demands of the upcoming season. While most students are enjoying a break from the rigors of college life, the Hornet Girlz are enduring two weeks of 2-a-day practices that consist of running, body sculpting with weights, and a pilates/yoga cool down…and that’s just the morning session. The afternoon brings more cardio workouts, step aerobics, and 40 minutes of dance exercises that includes barre work and “across the floor” drills to strengthen dance technique. Once the season starts, the Hornet Girlz have two three-hour practices to clean up routines and perform at 1-2 games per week. “Since we have such a demanding schedule, I only take the most committed individuals,” says Roberts. “I let them know exactly what will be asked of them before they audition.”

The commitment that it takes to be a Hornet Girlz member extends beyond the dance floor and the gym, though, as the squad is active in both fundraising and community service events throughout the year. Although the university provides the team with a stipend, the squad holds two car washes in the summer and provides dance clinics for the community during football and basketball seasons to help pay for national competition fees and other team needs. The squad also performs at campus events, cancer benefit walks, local dance recitals, and danced at local malls last year to help raise money for Hurricane Katrina victims. “I try to get the team out in the community as often as possible,” says Roberts.

Roberts realizes that the Hornet Girlz could not operate without the support of the Sacramento State athletic department, and she is quick to give credit and thanks to those in the school administration. “The athletic department runs on a strict budget, but our Athletics Director, Dr. Terry Wanless, has always made it a priority that the dance team receives a yearly stipend. My immediate boss, Adam Primus (marketing director), always has us selling programs or athletic bracelets to help offset costs,” says Roberts. “The director has always stood behind our program even when there was high turnover of coaches, and I just can’t say enough about the Sac State athletic staff.”

As the summer of 2006 comes to an end, Roberts has the Hornet Girlz primed for another outstanding school year. Each year the team travels to the USA Collegiate Camp in Anaheim, CA where the squad spends four days learning dance material for the entire season. Roberts also choreographs a number of 30-second end zone and time-out routines for the season, and hires a former dance team member to choreograph a jazz routine for nationals. And while one of her goals as coach is to continue developing the Hornet Girlz into an excellent program, Roberts strives to reach her team on a much deeper level. “As a mother of a three year old daughter, I understand how important it is to guide and direct in such a manner that will allow these women to see their self worth in a positive way,” says Roberts. “I want to assist somehow in their growth and maturity in order for them to offer their best in this world.”

Sun Doll Taylor Shine Featured In Athlon

Taylor Shine from the University of South Florida SunDolls dance team was recently selected to appear in the Athlon Sports College Football Magazine, National Edition. A senior communications major from Tampa, Shine is set to begin her fourth year as a captain on the squad.

To visit the Sun Dolls official site Click Here

A Dancer’s Journey Through Life

Article published on Friday, July 14th, 2006
By DEREK CLARKSTON
Kodiak Daily Mirror

Marie Finn lives life to a rhythm.

“I’ve kind of got that music in me,” the 18-year-old said.

She often finds herself wriggling her arms, scooting her feet and moving her hips to whatever sound is coming out of the radio.

“Me and my sister blast music while we clean the house and dance with brooms and each other,” Finn said, with a grin on her face. “We have way too much fun, especially with dance.”

Finn is about to graduate from the Finn’s house of dancing to a bigger stage, the Jenny Craig Pavilion on the campus of the University of San Diego.

The blond dancer, who recently graduated from Kodiak High School, was one of 24 dancers selected to represent the Toreros spirit team for this upcoming school year.

Finn went through a grueling two-day tryout in April and made the cut from 40 dancers and cheerleaders vying for the same spot.

“I was really nervous,” Finn said, whose mom attended USD for one year. “There were only five freshmen to try out and we all made it. It was kind of nerve-racking because I was the only one from Alaska. When I first got there I really didn’t talk to anybody. I just kind of did my thing.”

That thing she did was good enough to impress the officers of the team.

During tryouts, Finn was taught a jazz and hip-hop routine, in a mere two hours, by professional choreographers.

“They were used to professional dancers and I was kind of shocked when they said ‘Ready and go’ and they just went through it really fast,” Finn said. “I was like, ‘Oh my god, what am I doing?’”

She survived the first day of cuts and later made it through the interview portion to trade in her blue and gold for blue and silver.

It was then that she revealed to the group that she was from The Last Frontier.

“We were all sitting in a circle introducing ourselves and I said ‘I’m Maria from Alaska’ and some girls where like, ‘Whoa,’” Finn said, laughing. “And I was like, ‘I don’t live in an igloo.’”

She will not be alone on the dance team. As it turns out, a sophomore dancer from Soldotna also made the cut.

Finn begins her journey dancing at a NCAA division I school — USD is a member of the West Coast Conference — July 31 when she heads to San Diego for a month-long camp.

The start of the journey.

Her first steps in dance came 12 years ago when Finn’s mom enrolled her daughter in a ballet class at the Little School of Dance.

There Finn got hooked under the guidance of Molly Brodie.

Brodie had just moved to Kodiak and Finn was in her first ballet class.

“Before she came I was so little, I was just running around in a tutu,” Finn said. “She really taught me how it should be and that ballet is really an art. People really underestimate it, which is a shame.”

This summer marks her final class at the Little School of Dance.

“I’ll be sad to see her go,” Brodie said. “But I’m sure she will do great.”

Later on Finn sidestepped into jazz and modern dance, realizing there were other genres.

“Ballet was always my thing,” Finn said. “When I got into high school, I started jazz and hip-hop. I really got into it and thought it was a lot of fun.”

Finn’s first dancing memory came in 1989 in her first, but not last, “Nutcracker.”

“I was one of the Mother Gingers underneath the big skirts,” Finn recalled. “I remember those costumes were just ridiculous. I hated them. A lot of the costumes I had when I was little I look back at and wonder why they did this to us. They are all frilly and not very cute.”

It’s fitting that her fondest moment comes in her last “Nutcracker” two years ago.

“I got Sugar Plum Fairy,” Finn said. “Ever since my first “Nutcracker” I have been looking forward to that role. I was really stoked and excited.”


High school days

“When I got to high school it was a total check for me,” said Finn, who went to grade school at St. Mary’s. “I was in shock of how many people there were. I made the dance team and I met a lot of people. It really helped out, the group of friends that I have now.”

At KHS Finn met her dancing mentor for four years, Joy Green.

Green was the dance coach and teacher at the high school, but has left her position as coach because she was diagnosed with cancer earlier this year.

“Mrs. Green has taught me so much, just being a good person and a great teacher,” Finn said. “It was really hard graduating and having her sit there and look at us.

“I love Mrs. Green like my other mom. I think she is great. I really hope she gets better and everything else works out for her.”

Finn was an officer for three of the four years she was on the KHS dance team and was co-captain of this year’s squad.

During that time she has traveled to Mexico, Florida and around Alaska.

“Being on the dance team has given me so many opportunities to travel and see other dancers,” Finn said.

“It was the coolest thing, when after we performed, how many compliments we got,” she added later.

Her biggest thrill came during the Joe Floyd Basketball Tournaments in Kodiak.

“Just cause of the crowd,” Finn said. “They announce the dance team and everybody knows that it is going to be good. It makes you feel really good knowing that people actually stay at halftime instead of getting food.”

As an officer and co-captain, Finn also had an opportunity to choreograph dance routines.

“I just don’t want to repeat myself,” Finn said, on being a choreographer. “It’s a lot of fun, because it’s whatever you want to do. If somebody else is teaching and you don’t like that move, you can’t change it.”

Despite the freedom, Finn would rather take instructions than give.

“I think I like learning from somebody else just cause you can see what they do and how they come up with different moves,” she said.

Even though she is being told what moves to do, she can still add her own flavor, which is why this dancer enjoys moving around.

“If your genre is hip-hop and you’re really good at it, you’re only good at it because you put your own thing into it,” Finn said. “Anybody can do the moves. Putting your own energy into it, your own feel, and making it your own — it feels really good knowing that people like it.”

Moving on

Both Finn’s parents hail from La Jolla, a community inside San Diego’s city limits, and she still has an abundance of family in the area.

But that doesn’t mean she is going to forget about the place where she grew up.

“I’m just going to miss Kodiak,” Finn said. “The drive around when there is nothing else to do, the rainy days, even if they’re a lot and frequent. I love the place to death.”

She hasn’t decided on a major yet, but is leaning toward a degree in communications.

Until she figures her path in life, she is simply going to continue moving to the rhythm.

“I don’t see myself doing this for the rest of my life,” she said, “but it’s definitely something I want to keep doing until I can’t. I’m just going to dance my heart out until I can’t do it anymore.

“It’s been quite the dancing journey and I’ve loved every minute of it.”

Mirror writer Derek Clarkston can be reached via e-mail at sports@kodiakdailymirror.com.

SJSU Spectrums Opening Doors For Aspiring Dancers

By: Tony Mercado
SpartanThunder Senior Editor
Spartan Thunder
Date: Jun 27, 2006

If it wasn’t for the lessons she took to heart as part of the San Jose State University Spectrum Jazz Dance Team, Itza Sanchez doesn’t believe there was any way she could be where she is now. Sanchez is one of five former Spartan Spectrum dancers associated with the 2006 San Jose SaberCats.

If it wasn’t for the lessons she took to heart as part of the San Jose State University Spectrum Jazz Dance Team, Itza Sanchez doesn’t believe there was any way she could be where she is now.

Over the last three years, she performed with the San Jose SaberKittens, the Arena Football League’s top dance team as voted by the fans in 2005. She was the squad’s Rookie of the Year in 2004, a co-captain the next and recently finished this season as one of its captains in what nearly turned out to be a championship year for the SaberCats.

“A lot of that progression had to do with my experience at San Jose State,” said Sanchez, one of five former Spectrum dancers associated with the 2006 San Jose SaberCats.

Jennifer Almazan, Diana Chinn and Lauren DeGuzman completed their rookie season as SaberKittens, while Anette Herrera piled her craft as a ‘Kitten in 2005 and assisted the SaberCats as a sideline girl this year.

Their presence relays the obvious: The SJSU program has quietly made its mark as a great training ground for tomorrow’s performers and entertainers in the Bay Area sports scene. In 2005, alone, six Spectrum dancers were on professional teams in addition to the SaberKittens, including two with the San Francisco 49ers Gold Rush and one with the Oakland Raiderettes.

Herrera says that’s no accident. The Spectrum program really is that good for aspiring dancers and also allows for the development as a mature young woman, she said.

“What’s nice about Spectrums is its nurturing environment. It’s conducive for that amateur training and for getting used to being in the public eye,” said Herrera. “You start to apply everything you learned when you’re in the professional realm.”

Formed in 1978 to perform a single routine at each home football game during the marching band’s show, the Spectrums now have routines for every song performed by the band and even have their own solo program. The team also does the San Jose Holiday Parade, high school exhibitions and various community events.

Its current choreographer, Laura Jollay, is a former Spectrum dancer and has performed with the Golden State Warriors, San Francisco 49ers and Oakland Raiders.

Chinn called Jollay the “ultimate” source of support and inspiration.

“The personal lessons she taught through her constant encouragement and willingness to put her entire heart into the Spectrums dance team will immeasurably guide me, both as a professional dance team member and throughout life,” she said.

“Laura has so much experience and she passed that down to us,” added DeGuzman. “And she was good about encouraging us to try out for other teams, to take that next step. Without her guidance, I never would have made the SaberKittens.”

Aside from all the technical knowledge the Spectrums provided these young women, it also sowed a deep friendship among them that calmed nerves and downplayed insecurities when it came time to try out alongside more than 100 other hopefuls this past year for the ‘Kittens squad.

“Auditions can be scary and intimidating, said Chinn. “But to go and see a familiar face, have someone to sit and joke with about the pressures of the try outs, I can’t even say how great that was.”

“We have a special bond,” said DeGuzman. “In that first game, I was unsure of myself because everything was so new. But to look across and see people I’d performed with many times before, that was very comforting.”

The SaberKittens experience has been memorable for all of these women. For a rookie like Almazan, it’s special because it almost didn’t happen. Before the season even began, she rolled her ankle during practice and was on the sideline for five weeks.

“The most difficult part was to watch everyone at the first game. I wanted to be, I felt I should have been, out there with my teammates,” she said. “I was scared. But I did everything I could to work hard and overcome it.”

Hard work. Dedication. The words epitomize these current and former Spartans who are well on their way to achieving success beyond the football field.

Almazan is pursuing a degree in real estate and finance. DeGuzman has a nursing career in her sights, much like Herrera, who graduated in 2004 with a kinesiology degree and is now in the school’s graduate nursing program. Chinn, who has degrees in English and criminal justice administration from San Diego State University and transferred to SJSU to finish her course work, is applying to law schools throughout the state this September.

After three years with the team, Sanchez, a 2005 SJSU alumna, said she’s looking for new challenges and has likely taken her last turn with the SaberKittens, a time she calls “magical.” But wherever she ends up..

“I’m still a Spectrum,” she said. “I was that first and will always be one.”