Flashback Friday - Dance Team

I actually started this post a couple of days ago because it took so long to gather pictures and videos, but I waited til today to post so I can officially call it a "Flashback Friday". Anyone who knows me the least bit, knows that I have a huge love for dance. I was on dance team from 7th grade all the way until junior year in college. My favorite times where high school and college, but I think if I had to pick between the two, I may have to go with high school. I managed to dig up some old pictures and even some videos from the "good ole days". Can I use that term since I'm only 26? Let's start with high school...

Sophmore Year:



Junior Year:



Senior Year:



Aren't you so jealous you didn't get to wear that every Friday night in front of the entire city of Hoover, even in the freezing weather??

My senior year at Hoover was probably by far the best when it comes to dance team. We made sure every dance we did was a "production", which is fancy talk for super long dance that you can barely make it through without major gasps for oxygen. My senior year, we had 8 seniors and 8 juniors and sophmores, so it made sense to do A LOT of group work. It helped get through the routine without dying ;) One of my FAVORTIE dances we did was to Britney's song "Satisfaction". Erin Cork was our captain and Jennifer Brooks and I were co-captains. We choreographed this dance together and had so much fun doing it! Who's the chick in all black you ask? Well, that would be our coach, Tanya Brock. She lost a bet with us, and I can't remember the bet, but because of it, she was required to do a dance with us at a pep rally.

Sorry for the video quality...video cameras weren't that awesome back in 2001 :) If you're trying to find me, at the very beginning, half of us are sitting in chairs. I'm on the front row far left. And when we join together to dance as one team in the middle, I am again, front row far left.



After graduating from high school, I started working for UDA, Universal Dance Association. At every camp, UDA instructors give a select few people "bids" to work for them during the summers. My sister, Jennifer, got a bid in 2000 and I got a bid in 2001. I thoroughly loved teaching camps all over the US during the summers. I only did it for two years though, because when I got deep into my major in school, I started taking some classes in summer school.



In 2001, I got to teach at the camp where Hoover competed. One would think that would be some kind of conflict of interest, but shockingly, it wasn't!



This is me and another instructor who was also on Bama's dance team with me, Jennifer Beasley.



Every year, all the instructors went to "work week" to learn the dances we were going to teach to high school and middle school dance teams. This particular work week was in Daytona, FL. My sister, along with Erin Cork, Natalie Pfau and Lacie Ingram (all from Hoover) were there that year.

Moving into college...

Being a member of the Crimson Cabaret at the University of Alabama was amazing. I think I learned more about technique than ever in my life while being a member.



This is us performing to Britney and Madonna's "Me Against the Music". Loved this dance too!



At the Homecoming parade my junior year in college.



This was our competition routine for College Camp in the summer. It was to Evanescence's "Taking Over Me".

My most proud moment in college was when we got 5th place at Nationals in Orlando, FL in 2002 out of about 30-40 teams. I put the video below. If you're asking yourself what was the reasoning behind the choice of music, the answer is that we were trying to go with a "bada$$ women" theme. So all the songs have to do with being a bada$$. Miss these girls so much! If you're trying to find me, good luck. The easiest way to say it is that when we form the first "organized" formation (which is right when the lyrics to "We Will Rock You" start), I'm in the front row far left (apparently my favorite spot), but we move A LOT so you'll probably lose me at some point :)



Being on dance team was a huge part of my life and I miss it everyday :(

UDPATE: I got a few requests by email to put up the other videos I had on youtube so here they are :)



This is "Thriller". It's one of the most talked about dances we did. Any of you heard of Michael Warren? He's currently living in LA pursuing a music career. Last I heard he was signed and working on an album. Well, he's our "Michael Jackson" in this dance. Captains (Erin, Jennifer and myself) used the actual "Thriller" video for most parts and then choreographed the rest. Remember when I said everything we did my senior year was a "production"? Well, we had the drama department build us a coffin and used dry ice and smoke makers to create fog. The fog actually makes it hard to see at times, so sorry about that. The dance teams after us used this dance for years from what I'm told. To find me, look for the person crawling out of the coffin in the white shirt, black pants, and ridiculously blonde hair that crawls towards the front.



This is from March Madness at U of A my freshman year. The video is kind of long. The first dance is hideous. We were required to do one dance with Big Al so it couldn't be hard and was pretty much required to be "lame" and didn't involve talent and I couldn't stand doing it (can you tell I didn't like it?). After that routine we do some cheers, during which time I'm easy to find because my crazy mother zooms in on me most of the time. To the part I actually like though...at 5:50 we go off the court and when we come back we do a pretty killer routine. It's blurry at the beginning but when it comes in focus, there are three people in the front row. I'm the one of the far right.

And a shout out to my girl Lindsey Limbaugh...during the "cheer" section, you hear someone talking on the phone. It was her. She came to see me that night :)