Anyone who likes to dance, has danced in the past, or wants to become a dancer, can try out for the SMSU Dance Team. This is an athletic team, but it is labeled as a club, rather than an actual NCIS sport. For that reason, anyone can join the team.

“My teammates are my second family,” said sophomore dancer Alexis Grathwohl. “We support each other and build each other up.”

Tryouts to become a member of this family are coming up on Nov. 12, from 4 to 7 p.m., and students are invited to come and show the team what they have and why they belong on the team.

These specific tryouts are for the Winter Dance Team, which is slightly different than the Fall Dance Team. Winter team members dance at half time of the men and women’s basketball games, where as the Fall team members dance at half time of the football games.

The technique and type of dancing differs by team as well. Fall dances include the use of pompoms, and they do a variety of jumps and arm/body movements. The Winter team does not use pompoms, but they do have jumps and arm/body movements. In addition to that, the Winter team also relies on turn sequences, which the Fall team does not generally do due to the terrain they dance on.

Both teams practice weekly, and perform numerous times. They craft new dances for almost every performance and these are always choreographed by the dancers alone.

Students interested in trying out for the Winter Dance Team, or those who just have questions, can contact team members through Facebook at their page “SMSU Dance Team”.