Fall Tryouts!!!

American University's Cheer and Dance Teams are having tryouts for the 2011-2012 school year on August 27th & 28th, 2011 in Bender Arena from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm.

Cheer
Females should wear a fitted shirt or sports bra and shorts with appropriate shoes. Hair should be worn down or half-up, half-down. Males should wear a t-shirt, athletic shorts, and appropriate shoes.

Dance
Females should wear a tight-fitting tank top, tight-shorts/jazz pants, shoes to perform technique, and running/tennis shoes.

*Participants will be judged on the following:
-Spirit, confidence, enthusiasm
-Projection
-Ability to lead the crowd
-Physical fitness and collegiate appearance
-Fight song (will be taught at tryouts)
-Cheer (will be taught at tryouts)
-Stunting
-Triple jump
-Standing/running gymnastics, when applicable

For more information or questions, email spirit@american.edu or visit http://www.aueagles.com/fa​n_central/Cheer_and_Dance

Back from Daytona.. DT Captain, Kelsey

And we're back from our third and most successful year competing at NCA and NDA college nationals! Both cheer and dance obtained the highest scores from our routines that we have ever accomplished. I am SO incredibly proud to say that the American University Dance Team has placed 9th in the nation for Division 1 Hip Hop!! We are so excited that all of our hard work paid off and we received some amazing recognition at nationals this year!
Usually, returning home from Daytona is bittersweet. It's the end of our incredibly long season. We will finally have ample time to do our homework, see friends that aren't involved in AU Spirit (does anyone have any of those anymore? haha), and get ready for finals and summer vacation before the season starts up again with the next school year. However, this year is very different for me. I will be graduating in December, a semester early, and therefore this was my last nationals season on the American University dance team.
Usually, I return home excited to show off my tan (which is actually usually a sunburn), and hang out with my friends, but as I walked through the door of my apartment with all of my luggage just a half an hour ago, I instead felt an overwhelming gratitude for what the American University Spirit Program has given me the past three years.
As I have said in my blog posts for the past three years, our spirit program is a group of extraordinary young women and men. It has been such an amazing experience to watch this program grow and be a part of it. We have always worked incredibly hard, but the talent and the perseverance to get better has only increased with every year. I have seen the technical skills on my own team reach far beyond a level that I could have imagined when I tried out for the team in April of 2008, and I got to watch the cheer team go from having 4 or 5 tumblers to having almost full team tumbling and sticking nearly every stunt they throw in the air.
My team and this program have given me so much in the past three years. My dancing has improved drastically, as well as my athletic ability, I have AMAZING time management skills, and I now know how to shake poms and run flags with the best of them. However, the most important thing this program has given me is a family away from my family.
We have faced many struggles together; not having time for schoolwork, friends, boyfriends (or girlfriends), getting injured, messing up performances, missing holidays and special time with our actual families, and enduring hours of hard practices. We've also had more amazing and funny memories than I could possibly count, and I couldn't picture the past three years without any of the amazing past and present members of the team. You all have made my time on the American University Dance Team nothing less than perfect, and I love you all. When we all look back on our days on our cheer or dance teams, we aren't going to remember our routines, or how long the bus ride to Florida felt, or the scores of the basketball games we cheered at, but we are instead going to remember those great nights in Daytona, the feeling of walking off the Nationals floor after nailing a routine, how many laughs we all had together along the way, and how lucky we were to have been a part of such a special group of people.
My freshman year I wrote on this very blog that I couldn't have been luckier to have left my family in Ridgefield, CT and found a new one here in DC, and I couldn't have been more right. Of course none of it would have been possible without our coaches, Alex, Rachel, and Nate, who have continuously pushed us to be better even when we thought there was no where else to go. Nate has been an amazing encouragement to not only his own team, but dance as well, and I will forever appreciate him staying after his own practice was over to help us clean our hip hop routine. Rachel has dove in to being an assistant coach of this crazy team so effortlessly, and we wouldn't be where we are (9th place!) without her. I want to especially thank Alex for pushing me and believing in me enough to choose me as one of the leaders of this amazing team, and wish her all the luck in the world as she begins the most exciting journey of her life. And of course a big thank you to Brett,and Jay for giving so much to this program, as well as all of our amazing alums who have been so supportive.

I'm getting a little teary sitting here at my computer, and I think I've written a novel already. I love you all more than you know, and I can't thank you enough for three amazing years on this team. When I am no longer a member of AU Spirit, I will be taking the place of "AU Spirit's Biggest Fan." You guys have no where else to go but up, and I will be cheering you on the entire way.
DT on 3,
Kelsey

We Talkin' About Practice - Connor, Cheer Co-Captain

A couple of years ago, Allen Iverson was just as popular with his “practice” press conference as Charlie Sheen is today with his “winning” interview. Both cheer and dance have something in common with Iverson, lately we have had practice about as many times as Iverson said it in the video.

However, contrary to what Iverson said, for us practice is everything. We don’t have games every week. We have one game each year, nationals. People may think we push ourselves when we are performing down in Daytona. False, Daytona is a breeze. Rather, practices are where we push ourselves. We practice hard four times a week so that nationals is easier for us. Especially now, practice is getting more intense. People have been injured. People have quit. People have gotten angry. Still, we keep going and we keep pushing. We push to the point of exhaustion and frustration, yet we come back the next day ready to do what is required and then some.

Practices are rough, and the only thing that hasn’t made us go crazy or quit by now is our bond as a team. Regardless of how we feel in practice, we are still good friends. We can joke around with each other. More importantly, we can turn our pain and soreness into points of laughter and fun among us. Our shared aches bring us closer together. Each practice brings new bruises, cuts, and sore muscles, but it also brings a stronger bond. And that’s something we’re all willing to sacrifice for.

Looks like I’m almost as bad as Iverson. I said practice 10 times. But then again we talkin’ about practice.

Lost in Transition - Dance Junior, Elyse

This Nationals season had a slightly different start for me and two other teammates. Hannah, Kelsey and I spent last semester abroad in different corners of the globe. Although we did as much as we could from Jordan, Rome, and Chile to stay in shape while we were away, no other workout is the same as dancing. Not only are we back into dancing full swing, getting ourselves as prepared as possible for NDA Nationals. Not only is it nice to be dancing, it is so much easier to motivate yourself when you see that your 11 other teammates are all pushing themselves just as hard, working towards a common goal.

I had the time of my life in South America, but every time a song we had danced to in a routine played, I started to get a little teary (and inevitably danced like a fool, no matter where I was at the time). Spending 8 months away from any sort of dance floor and your inspiring teammates really makes you evaluate how much you love dancing and your dance team. Having been trained in a more concert dance company based environment, I was totally unprepared to be a member of any sort of team when I came on as a freshman. But I showed up for try-outs and ended up joining the team before I had even taken a single class at American University. Being on this team has shaped my college experience and changed me as a person. Now that basketball season is officially over and we’re on the brink of the biggest event of our season, the somewhat familiar nerves, anxiety, and excitement of nationals season have firmly planted themselves in my stomach, and all that I can do is push myself and encourage my teammates. I love

you and believe in you all <3

DT ON 3

Winning. Camille David (Duh, Cheer)

SO kids… basketball season has finally come to an end and "march madness", also known as the rush to get ready for cheer and dance nationals, has begun. As a cheerleader or a dancer at this time, you're one of the following:

(1) Panicked.

(2) Excited.

(3) Convinced we're taking home that championship trophy for the third year in a row.

Personally, I'm all three, but I'm only going to talk about option (3). I joined the team in September of my freshman year. I was a softball player and a "drama kid" from middle school on. We didn't really have a cheerleading team at my high school, but I always loved school spirit at games. So when cheer held open try-outs, I showed up on a Sunday wearing my black soffe shorts and black sports bra and gave it a whirl. Somewhere between Lauren almost making me tear up while teaching me the fight song (yeah, had to get a serious High V lesson) and putting Joanna up in libs, I was hooked. I got a call from Brett that night and I joined up as an alternate.

The following February, all 20 something of us traveled to Infinity, a gym in Virginia, to get choreography for Nationals. Somehow, I ended up rolling around on the floor in the front of the dance with Lauren. Yeah, not quite sure what they were thinking. A month later and we were hitting our stunts and our pyramid and I thought we had nationals in our back pocket. I didn't tell anyone at the time, but I thought we were taking home a huge trophy and I would be bragging to my friends about how I was on one of the best cheerleading teams in the country.

In April, we woke up at some absurd hour to put on make-up and do our hair and then hit the mat. The second we were in warm-ups, the panic set in. I looked around at the other all girl teams and was amazed. How were girls my size doing all that crazy stuff? We warmed up our routine and about 30 minutes later, pre-lims were over. The next day, everyone performed in finals and then all 13 teams sat on the mat and waited for them to announce the winner. They started with 13th place, we got 11th. I was shocked. Even though I had seen all the teams and deep down knew they were better, I was still so surprised. Everyone looked excited, because we hadn't placed last. I wanted to cry.

It took me about two weeks to finally put the week at Daytona in perspective. It was our first year at competition, about eight girls on our team had never cheered before (myself included), and we had no idea what to expect. My mom and dad popped in my head. After my freshman year season where we went 17-1, they just repeated to me over and over "It's not about winning". And it's really not. I would cheer and put all the blood, sweat, tears and drama in every year, even if I knew 11th place would always be the outcome.

And despite it all, it's March 13, with nationals less than a month away, I still think we will be top 5. I guess its that childhood optimism that comes when you begin a new sport. Or maybe, Charlie Sheen and I have something in common. "Duh, winning!"

Flying Solo - DT Freshman Mark

I came into college expecting to make friends, start a new life, and figure out what I would be doing for the rest of my career--never in a million years did I think I would be joining the dance team at American University halfway through the season to compete for Nationals in Daytona.

Hi, I'm Mark and I'm the newest member of the AU Dance Team--and the only male. While I'm the only guy on the team, the girls have been so welcoming that I haven't had any trouble getting integrated into the team. It's tough joining the team halfway through the season, but I'm having an absolute blast already. I won't lie, I thought I would be so embarrassed to say I was a member of the dance team, but I couldn't be prouder of what I've become a part of.

Hip-Hop is my specialty, even though I really don't have much formal experience with dance. I have to tell you though, our Nationals routine is really going to bring it! Get pumped! I've been working really hard on the choreography and I really have to thank those who have taken the time out of their busy schedule to work with me one-on-one to make sure that I've got everything that I need to know.

I'm still trying to learn the ways of the dance team, and we're all going to be working at the Battle at the Capitol, so that should be a great opportunity for a team bonding experience. I can't wait to keep you guys updated with how things are going for the team as a whole! All in all, I couldn't be happier about joining the dance team.

--Mark

Slacking

We'll pick it back up soon. We've just been so busy supporting our teams and preparing for nationals, that we haven't been doing our part to keep up the blog. Please forgive us! We'll be posting again shortly!