By Victoria Keraj
After reigniting last fall semester, Brooklyn College’s Blaze Dance Team is fired up this semester as they hosted their tryouts on Sept. 18 in the Hall of Fame Room at the Student Center, welcoming all to try out for the 2024 tour.
Energetic music filled the room as treasurer Jessica Shannon and president Amy Montrose welcomed the arriving students. Students were nervous, but also enthusiastic about auditioning.
“I’m definitely nervous, but I’m also excited, so hopefully the excitement outweighs the nervousness and I can just do what I have to do,” said Zoey Hanson, a freshman at the tryouts.
Hanson found out about tryouts from a post on the Undergraduate Student Government (USG) Instagram page. She was also led to the club by her passion for dance. “I just really love dancing, you know. It’s a way of communicating your emotions. If not to everybody else, you know dancing in your room is a way to communicate your own emotions to yourself. I just fell in love with dance,” she told The Vanguard.
To other auditioners, they struck a match with the community and fun that the team offers. Mia Tifa, a sophomore also there to audition, stated, “I like to be part of a team, having something to look forward to, so that’s why I wanted to join.”
After waiting for everyone to arrive and settle in, Montrose and Sannon gathered everyone in a circle, encouraging everyone to have fun while dancing and to not get psyched out. “I’ve been dancing since 2nd grade, I still get nervous,” Sannon told the group.
The students all introduced themselves with their names and favorite dance styles. People mentioned Bachata and Bouyon–traditional Dominican styles of dance and music. Montrose and Sannon went over what they were looking for in the dancers. The main purpose of the audition was to see if the students could meet their dance expectations. With plans to perform at Phi Sigma Chi Fraternity and the Caribbean Student Union’s (CSU) annual Multicultural Night and talks of entering competitions, dancers must be able to be versatile.
Montrose and Sannon choreographed a dance for the students to perform. They would all learn the dance together, perform it in small groups before the judge’s table, and then they’d find out in a week’s time if they had made it in or not. Montrose stated they were looking for “precision in moves and personality.”
“We wanted to make sure the dancers were able to pick up the [choreography] quickly but have musicality and speed to add difficulty. Our goal is to have a team that is able to execute moves clearly and be able to perform well,” Sannon said.
After hyping everyone up to dance, Montrose and Sannon introduced the dance that the students would be performing for the audition by performing it for everyone. They danced to the song “Whatever She Wants” by Bryson Tiller.
Next came the process of learning the dance. Students would be judged based on how well they could perform a dance they’d just learned. They were not required to bring any material of their own to audition with, but the dance’s choreography included portions where they could improvise and add some of their own style. The president told everyone there that she was going to be judging for creativity, energy, and musicality. Even though all may not make the cut, dancers were nonetheless encouraged for putting on a great performance.
“Even if you mess up, keep going. End strong,” Montrose said. “The dance goes on.”
Students interested in learning more about the Blaze Dance Team can visit their Instagram @blaze_bcdanceteam