Bookmark and Share Last Updated: Jan 04, 2010, 09:08 AM
Hidden Heroes
NDSU dance team gears up for a national competition
By Rebecca Kurowski
 
Load up the kids – there’s something to see. A nationally acclaimed dance team is performing at our next Bison game. Wow! Who? you ask? It’s the NDSU Dance Team – all geared up for a couple of last performances before heading off to nationals again.
 
Most of us have seen the dance team perform at athletic contests, where the events they are performing at are the focus, which means the dance team doesn’t receive any press coverage for their performances. But that certainly doesn’t mean the dance team goes unnoticed. Full of spirit and overflowing with dynamic dancing skills, these young women draw quite a crowd wherever they go.
 
What a lot of Bison fans might not realize, however, is that the dance team doesn’t just entertain our home crowd. The team also competes in national dance competitions each year. “Our team is dual-purpose,” explained coach Katy Kowalski. “We aim to enhance the school spirit at home Bison games and events and to compete at the UDAs (Universal Dance Association’s) Dance Team National Championships each year.” Kowalski co-coaches the 15-person team along with Meghan Wabner.
 
Stephanie Mitchell, a junior, explains it as the team having two different seasons. “We have tryouts in April and we practice some in the summer,” she said. “Then at the beginning of the school year, we’re at all the home football games – kind of like a pep squad, but we don’t travel with the team. We’re considered a ’Spirit Squad’ so we do some cheers, but also some mini dances.”
In the second season, the dance team creates a fresh routine and submits a video of it to the UDA each year to qualify for Nationals. Not only does the team get invited to compete, but it also places in the elite top five year after year. “Nationals really are the focal point of our entire season,”  Kowalski said. “A huge area that most people don’t understand about our girls is that they put in an insane amount of time just to prepare for nationals. After submitting our videotape, we have rounds to advance through after that. It’s absolutely amazing that these girls work so hard for so many hours a week for months and months.”
With all the hours of training, it’s no wonder the team places so high each year. “The high ranking of the dance team was the deciding factor in my decision to go to NDSU,” said captain Kallista Nilson, who danced competitively and continues to coach at West Fargo High School. “It was definitely a big change to come from high school, though, to a team where you don’t know anybody. We work really, really hard and have a ton of fun – it’s an amazing team at that!”
Within the team, the dancers work to ensure their skill sets are well balanced. “There are two major strengths when it comes to dancing: turns and leaps,” Nilson explained. “We balance each other out great and we work really hard to learn from those who are good at certain things so we all can improve. There are no set positions like in some other sports – we all work together on the same thing.” To explain it further, Kowalski said, “Not only do these girls have to respect their individual skills, but they have to master the best of their peers’ goals. You take the best part of every dancer and put it into each of them. At the competition, as a team, they all need to look and dance the same.”
The hours during the heat of the season are grueling. According to Mitchell, “We work our butts off to get to Nationals every year – three nights a week, four hours a day. And then we put lots of other hours in on our own doing strength training and pushing our flexibility. And when we’re not prepping for Nationals, we’re entering regional and national competitions in jazz and hip hop.” Those competitions have no bearing on nationals, but the dance team agrees that they are good practice opportunities. “Joining the team was a huge step for me as a dancer,” Mitchell said. “I gained a coach who is confident in me and has been pushing me to reach my full potential – I’ve really grown as a dancer.”
Between practicing, performing and training for nationals, the dance team members are all full-time students who also balance numerous hours of fundraising. The expenses of the team are quite large; they need new costumes for nationals each year, not to mention the travel costs. Year after year, the team manages to make it work.
Because the dance team is technically a student activity rather than a sport in the athletic organization, Kowalski explained that the majority of the expenses involved with the team are paid out-of-pocket by the dancers and sponsors. In fact, the coaches are not even employees at NDSU, but rather paid by the dancers. “NDSU has been real supportive of us over the years,” Kowalski said. “We continue to get more involved each year. Many have said to us that having us present (at sporting events) really adds to the aesthetics.”
The team hosts Kids Clinics and a dance show, which are all fundraisers to help the team go to nationals. “Nationals are right around the corner – Jan. 8 and 9 this year,” Nilson said. “We’re hoping to have another Kids Clinic later this winter. We had one in November and it was an absolute blast with the kids, who were in kindergarten through sixth grade. “
Many of the dance team members do some sort of coaching while they’re in school and beyond. After graduation, Leah Schabert went on to coach Concordia’s dance team and open a Fargo business called Galaxy Dance Studio. Chrissa Miller is another former dance team member who stayed in the business; she went on to dance for the Minnesota Timberwolves for two seasons.
“The beauty of this dance team is that not only do they get to do what they do best by dancing,” Kowalski said, “but they choose to use their talents to support their fellow athletes. I’m always really impressed by my girls, especially during crunch time; they really are motivated and they really support one another. Being a part of this team is pretty amazing.”
ALSO SEE
This weekend I am attending...
MORE
ARCHIVE