Portland State’s dance team recruited some new talent last month, creating a fresh look for the 2012–13 season.
A combined total of 40 people tried out in the Peter Stott Center on April 15 and 22, and a team has been assembled by coach Stephanie Sheron for the upcoming academic year. There are going to be 14 regular team members as well as five alternates. The mix of returning talent and new blood has Sheron enthusiastic about her squad.
Portland State’s dance team recruited some new talent last month, creating a fresh look for the 2012–13 season.
A combined total of 40 people tried out in the Peter Stott Center on April 15 and 22, and a team has been assembled by coach Stephanie Sheron for the upcoming academic year. There are going to be 14 regular team members as well as five alternates. The mix of returning talent and new blood has Sheron enthusiastic about her squad.
“I took 17 girls,” Sheron said. “Nine of the girls were new members. We’re going to start practice in August. I’m excited and hopeful. We’ve got a lot of great, talented girls. I’m very excited for the season.”
PSU’s dance team has a significant edge over others because they are able to access students with enrollments at another college, which Sheron finds very helpful.
“The team is open for people enrolled at both PSU and PCC as long as they’ve got dual enrollment” Sheron said. “It’s a process that’s very unique to PSU.”
Thus far, the dance team plans to entertain at all the PSU home football games as well as all of the home men’s and women’s basketball games. However, Sheron wants her dance team involved in many more events throughout the year, given its talent and enthusiasm.
“We’re planning to do competitions, promotions, the Starlight Parade; really, whatever comes our way,” said Sheron.
With eight returnees the squad holds the experience to back up boasting: they staunchly believe they will be successful in 2012–13. However, they have higher ambitions than simply succeeding as a team. They wish to make their team more known, and put their team, as well as PSU, under a national spotlight.
“Each year we go to a couple of the larger high school dance team competitions and perform a couple routines to try and get girls aware and interested in our program,” said Chelsea Holland, senior and co-captain of the team. “This is huge for us because there are a lot of people who still don’t know PSU has a dance team, since this will only be our third year.”
We are still trying to build our program and our reputation,” Holland said. “Hopefully it will be another year of strengthening our team. We really want to be as well known, in a positive way, as, say, University of Oregon’s dance team. Ideally, in the future we would like to be a competitive team and compete nationally.”
With those lofty goals combined with the squad’s enthusiasm, it wouldn’t be surprising to see new and exciting performances that rival the best dance routines across the country.
“Overall it’s going to be an exciting season,” Holland said. “We have another very talented group of girls this year. We’ll be starting practice in August, and I can’t wait.”
