Practice Makes Perfect for the Dance Team

by Melina Vereline

Dance teams around the world practice all year long for competition. kixxonline.com

Pretty girls, cute uniforms, hot music, awesome dance moves. These are some of the things that come to mind when you ask someone what they think about the Adelphi Dance Team. "I sometimes go to the basketball games just to see the girls on the dance team perform during half time," says Lenny, a junior at Adelphi. The girls stand off-court cheering for the home team, waiting anxiously to get out there, strut their stuff and do their three-minute routine. But what people don't realize is all the hard work put into that short routine. The team makes it look so easy, when in reality hours of work are needed.

It's 8:30 on a Monday night, the dance team has been practicing for two hours already, yet they still have another hour to go. As I am waiting for my turn to do leaps across the floor, I overhear two of my teammates talking about how much homework they have to do once they get home. One girl says, "I have two papers due tomorrow and an exam to study for." The other responds, "I know how you feel. Not only do I have so much homework to do but I also have to work between classes tomorrow. I'm getting really tired just thinking about it." I was able to relate to what they were saying.

The girls on the AU Dance Team work very hard to stay on the team. Many of the girls have been dancing most of their lives, while others have been dancing for only a couple of years. But no matter how long they have been dancing each girl works just as hard.

"At the audition, I realized how much I needed to push myself if I wanted to be on the team. I knew it was going to be a lot of work and very time consuming," says Elizabeth Affronti, a freshman at Adelphi and now a new member of the dance team.

Dance team try-outs were held in Woodruff Hall in September. About 30 girls showed up ready to show off their dancing ability. The lobby was full of girls stretching, turning, leaping, and practicing dance moves. Some girls were excited while other girls were very nervous. One girl states, "I was so nervous, I didn't think I was going to be able to stand up, let alone do a leap across the floor." The audition ran for about four hours. We were asked to do leaps across the floor, turns in front of the mirror and finally we you.

"Three hours of practice can also take a lot of time out of our school work," says Lisa Padula, a junior on the dance team. "It gets hectic keeping up with school work after a long, tiresome practice. You can't let your grades slip or you will no longer be allowed to dance on the dance team." Since Gorenstein is a graduate student herself she is constantly giving us study tips and stressing the fact of how important it is to do well in school.

The dance team is a group of great dancers, but they are also a group with big hearts. Besides their dancing performances and practices the team gets involved in community service. Diana Norton-Taylor, dance team assistant captain, works at a group home here on Long Island. This Halloween the dance team helped this group home have a scary and fun-filled night. They decorated and turned it into a haunted house. The dance team also got involved in the American Heart Walk on October 26th.

Now that the basketball season is starting up we are working even harder. Practices are beginning to run a little over time and we are learning more routines. Along with the basketball season comes competition. We will be competing in several competitions this coming winter into the spring. But the team's work doesn't end when school ends. Over the Christmas break we will be here two weeks earlier working on getting ready for dance competition. This summer we will be attending dance camp and we will work very hard to get ready for the next season.

So when you're at the next basketball game and the dance team is out on the court dancing their butts off, remember we worked hard to get there.