Dance Team Struts With Style Into the Spotlight

“I don’t want people who want to dance, I want people who have to dance.” – George Balanchine, founder of the School of American BalletThe Plymouth State University Dance Team has to dance, and they prove it every time they perform with their passion and dedication to the team. The team is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, and the team keeps on growing. These 15 talented young women give their time and talent for hours each week to create powerful dance routines that showcase their incredible talent. The Plymouth State Dance Team focuses on hip-hop and jazz dancing styles, performing at the Homecoming Football Game, home basketball games, the Wellness Fair, Love Your Body Week, and in the PSU Dance Premier and the Contemporary Dance Ensemble Spring Show. Dancers audition at the beginning of the school year and practice three times a week to perfect their routines, all of which are student choreographed, either by the four officers or by select members of the team. The girls on this year’s team talked about what brought them to Plymouth, and the fact that there was a dance team was a huge draw. Several members said they knew they had to come to a college or university with a dance team, for they had been dancing all their lives and wanted to make sure they could continue their passion. The possibility of being on a dance team at college was an opportunity that all of them wanted to take advantage of. Senior and President Lea Gagnon, remarked that, in choosing the music that provides dancing inspiration, “We basically decide on a theme and then go from there. Lindsay wanted to do Sweet Dreams, and then we decided that we wanted to mix some different versions of that song to get a variety of high and low points for the dance.” Lindsay Guidoboni, the vice-president, added, “We try and pick songs that people in a crowd at a basketball game will know and react to; songs that are upbeat and entertaining.”Continuing, Gagnon also talked about how they pick out their costumes, a vital part to any dance performance. “Liz Bickford’s mother makes the original black dance team costumes that we usually wear at the beginning of the year. If new costumes are purchased, the officers pick them out and present them to the team to get a team consensus to make sure everyone likes them.”Paying for new costumes can get very expensive, and while the team does get some money from the school, the team goes through it very quickly. 15 costumes at $75 per costume wipes out the money given to the team right from the start. Therefore, the Dance Team does a great deal of fundraisers throughout the year. Their most popular and successful fundraiser is a dance benefit held once a year, that has gradually gained monetary and participant support each year, from $1200 to $1400 and 100 to 300 people in attendance. They held their first one last year and raised $1200 with almost 100 people in attendance. Other smaller-scale fundraisers like tagging at Irving’s Gas Station and a mail-out, all of which require much time and dedication from all the members.The community gives much to the Dance Team for support, and the team makes sure they give back to the community that helps them. Every year the Dance Team helps out at PSU Day, a full day of community service where Plymouth State students and organizations get together to help clean up and do work in Plymouth and the surrounding towns. Last year, the team went to Franconia Notch and spread a truckload of woodchip that had recently been delivered to a day-care center. Helping out at PSU Day has become a tradition for the team as a way to make sure that the Plymouth State Dance Team name raises support and to gives thanks for all the community’s help.When asked about how important it is to be a strong team and to all work together, the response was unanimous – it is infinitely important to work together. Junior Stephanie Siros, this year’s secretary and next year’s president, talked about how the team does not have a coach, so it’s very important that they all work together as a team and has peers. Continuing, she said, “As a member of the team, you need to be able to take constructive criticism and know that it’s not someone that is picking on you; it’s someone that is trying to help your dancing so that we can be the best that we can be.” Senior Lindsay Guidoboni added, “The team needs to be able to look for the officers for guidance and for examples on how to act because if we [the officers] can’t get along, then there is no way that we can be a good example to the team.”The Dance Team members also talked about what they learned from being on the team, and what they discussed covered the whole spectrum. They talked about dedication, commitment, friendship, how to work together towards a common goal, cooperation, having and needing motivation and how to take and learn from constructive criticism. All these things, they agreed, added together to create a strong and successful team. On a lighter note, the members of the team had some very interesting ideas about what they would do with the team if they were given the opportunity to do anything they wanted. Gagnon and junior Michelle Michaud, next year’s secretary, both stated they wanted to be on ESPN. Michaud said, “I would love to go dance at the Nationals, to be able to have that type of coaching and the opportunity to be able to compete and perform at that level.” Senior Chrissy Brown, this year’s treasurer, said that it would be amazing to dance at a Division I school basketball game in front of thousands of people. Several other members expressed a desire to have guest teachers and guest choreographers, like the people who dance and choreograph for major popular music stars, like Janet Jackson or Jennifer Lopez. Junior Liz Bickford mentioned the possibility of dancing in a music video, and Guidoboni said it would be great to have a technique trainer to help the team with their kicks and turns to really get them synchronized and perfect. Gagnon put out the idea of dancing on stage during a Spring Fling performance. All ideas sparked the fire of compassion and dedication that is sure to bring great things for this team.The next time the Plymouth State Dance Team will perform will be on Saturday, May 8 during a snowboarding competition at Loon Mountain. They also will be dancing in the Contemporary Dance Ensemble’s Spring Show on May 14-15. Their talent and dedication to dance shows every time they step onto a stage or the basketball court to perform. Their passion and love for what they do is apparent in every step of every dance. As a Hopi Indian saying goes, “To watch us dance is to hear our hearts speak.”