At football games, the Ohio University Dance Team can be spotted on the field during time outs and on the sidelines performing to the Marching 110’s music and various recognizable tracks. However, the team works year-round to put on many more performances.
The organization holds auditions for the fall Game Day team in April, before the end of the previous school year. Holding auditions early gives the dancers time to learn the sideline routines before the football games begin.
Kendall Lilley, a senior studying marketing and business analytics, grew up dancing at Ultimate Dance Complex in Pittsburgh. After graduating from high school, she tried out for the dance team in hopes to continue dancing.
“I didn't want to be a dance major because I didn't see myself fully owning a studio or trying to be a part of a company,” Lilley said. "I still wanted to do something that was fun and a good way to meet friends, and I thought that the dance team would be the best way to do so.”
Lilley is the senior captain of the OU Dance Team. She described the audition process for the Game Day team, the group dancing on the sidelines for football games.
“In the past, we have done our fight song,” Lilley said. “This past year, we decided to teach a small clip of our pom routine from nationals.”
Once the dancers are placed on the team, they waste no time beginning to learn routines. The “ditties,” or routines, are sent over the summer for the team members to begin learning. Once the school year starts, the team comes together to go through the ditties more in-depth.
“We do things called ‘ditties,’ which are the little dances we do on the sideline,” Lilley said. “Those are just two to three eight-count combinations that we repeat and can go to any song. They have funny names that help you remember them.”
The dance team practices from 6-7:30 a.m., five days a week, because the practice space in Ping is difficult to reserve. It spends practices preparing for sideline performances.
Sydney Dadosky, a junior studying visual communication, from Milford, Ohio, is the junior captain of the dance team. Dancing has always been a huge part of her life in her hometown.
“(Dance) was a social hour for me,” Dadosky said. “It also gave me something to do to get up and get moving. So I was like, ‘I don't think I want to give that up.’ So that's when I looked into the dance team.”
The social aspect of the dance team was a big draw for many members, according to Dadosky and Lilley. It allows participants to engage in an activity they already enjoy while also exemplifying school spirit to the whole university.
The dance team plays a large role in school spirit during Homecoming as well. Besides dancing at the football game, the dance team will also be performing in the Yell Like Hell Pep Rally and the Homecoming parade.
Other than dancing at football games, the OU Dance Team focuses on its competition season. The team participates in two competitions a year. The team attends the Union College Classic National Competition in Orlando and they also compete in a virtual competition before that to get feedback on their routines.
At the competition in April, the team competed with a pom routine and a jazz routine. In Orlando, it won second place in the pom division and ninth in jazz.
Grace Vance, a sophomore studying exercise physiology, only danced on the competition team her freshman year. However, her time on the competition team swayed her decision to try out for the Game Day team.
“I just loved it so much,” Vance said. “I love being a part of the team and game days are so much fun. With competition, there's kind of a lot of pressure around it, obviously.”
The team is a very tight-knit group and is very involved in the university.
“I was a little bit shy my freshman year,” Dadosky said. “But just being with the same people, and everyone's super supportive and super kind on the dance team, so that allowed me to also grow.”
