AU Dance Team Sophomore = ), Francesca

Well, it's official: AU Cheer and Dance showcase their Nationals routines TOMORROW! There has been so much work leading up to this point in time, and we hope that the effort, the energy, the sweat, the sore muscles, the achy joints, the tears, the bruises, and the enormous amount of time spent will make us as individuals ,and as Alex's team, happy with the finish.

I know that there are many others on my team who have a lot on their plate like I do--and I need to let them know that they are incredible for maintaining high GPAs in the face of five to six academic courses pit against Dance Team commitments, not to mention jobs and internships. I'm actually double-majoring in literature and history, and at particular points in the year, the work load really gets really immense, frustrating, and seemingly unmanageable. This fall, as the workload was increasing simultanesouly with the basketball season, we actually had a couple of stress-reduction circles--not their official name or anything, but that's what we achieved = ) Dance team would sit in a circle together before practice, and go around to each individual member and let that person vent--about money, boys, parents, teachers, homework, work, family, or dance team; about anything that was making them upset. Having your friends there to listen to you really helps your trouble to ease, and lightens your heart before practice. Someone from DT is always there to go to the library with if you need some motivation to study, which can be a problem for normal students, but is even more so when you've just finished a 3-hour long practice at 10pm and have already expended mental energy remembering what arms you cleaned, remembering to pull up your passe in your turns, remembering to hit front in plie in fouettes, and all that jazz ; )

Dance team is indefinitely a positive part of life for us all. As Taryn has told me before, being on Dance Team helps you to get your priorities in order. You know you have an assignment due, but you HAVE to know WHEN EXACTLY you're going to do it, because practices, games, fundraisers, and charity events are ongoing. You don't go out on Friday nights and get blasted like everyone else; you need to stay in, take care of your body, do your homework, maybe watch a movie to relax, and then get sleep for the game or the practice the next morning. Starting in March, our weekends actually became harder than our week days with Saturday and Sunday practices, and two-a-days stuck in there! Truly though, that's when we began enjoying each other's company even more: picking out netflix to watch before bed, going to wholefoods to get healthy snacks to munch together while watching "Sex and the City" DVDs, planning to stay in together and help each other get through the mounds of homework always present on the back-burner, and all that fun stuff = )

In Dance Team, I find my best friends: the ones who understand that my ankle is aching, my back is twitching, my thigh is bruised, I'm still hungry, and I have to get up at 6am for morning practice. They're going through it too, and Nationals has only brought us closer--you could say we're family. The funny thing is that when Nationals is over, and we do get to go out again, I know it's going to be with Dance Team, and I know exactly what we're going to want to get all dressed up to go do: we're going to get excited, dolled-up, and go to a club to do what we do best, and that is of course dance together for one more night, makinnn THAA DANCE FLOOR SILLLY <3>