Huskies Dance Team To Host Intensive For Northwest Squads

The Huskies Dance Team from the University of Washington is going to host a dance intensive in March, specifically for college dance teams in the Pacific Northwest that hold club status on their respective campuses.

Amanda Sun, the Co-Captain of the Huskies Dance Team, tells College Dance Team Central that they hope to bring in instructors from around the Northwest, and are planning a four-hour long event that will include master classes in a number of different disciplines.

"The purpose of this gathering is really to let dance teams know about each other,” said Sun. “It will let (club) squads know that they have a network of support inherent in those other dance teams.”

The Huskies Dance Team is registered as a “club” at the University of Washington, and Sun hopes that the intensive will be the first step in creating an annual dance competition for club teams. It will also serve to create awareness for the team on the Washington campus and open lines of communication between squads that hold club status at other colleges and universities.

“It can be difficult when you are not school funded to do everything on your own,” said Sun. “If we can borrow the ideas of other teams on how to get ourselves known, how to view ourselves as a unit within the school, and even share dances to gain ideas for choreography, it would make everyone feel much more at ease knowing that there are other teams in the same position as we are. Because we have no coach or staff adviser, we rely solely on our team members to choreograph, plan events or run meetings for recreational dancing on campus, advertise our team and performances, seek opportunities for any performances we can obtain, and act as liaisons between all the coordinators of the events at which we perform.”

Below are the particulars for the Huskies Dance Team Intensive

What: An exchange of ideas between college dance teams with master classes in Hip Hop, Jazz, and Contemporary

When: Saturday, March 7th, 2009 (tentatively 10 am-2 pm)

Where: University of Washington Intramural Activities Center (IMA), Montlake Blvd, Seattle, WA

Who is Invited: Any college dance team in the Pacific Northwest that can provide their own transportation to the University of Washington campus for the event

Why: To foster creativity, promote dance, and empower dance teams

Contact: Amanda Sun, Co-Captain of the Huskies Dance Team, at uwdt@u.washington.edu

“This is an open invitation to college teams in the Northwest,” added Sun. “This is a big job, so we would love to get help in any way we can and return that help to other teams."

If your squad is interested in attending, please visit the official website of the Huskies Dance Team