By Kate Vandermeulen — Director of Marketing & Communications

As summer comes to a close and Gaiters are getting ready to head back to Lennoxville, the coordinators of Bishop’s University’s dance team are hard at work preparing for their upcoming season.

Bishop’s University Dance (BU Dance) offers three programs for Bishop’s dancers: the competitive team, the pom team and the dance club. The competitive team trains year round, with a focus on choreography, techniques and artistry. This team travels to a competition in March to compete in jazz, hip-hop, tap, ballet and contemporary/lyrical. The pom team performs sideline and halftime performances at BU home games to get Gaiters fired up for their sports teams. The dance club offers dance styles on a semester-by-semester basis, including hip-hop, contemporary and jazz. The semester ends with a showcase to show Bishop’s what the team can do!

The competitive team is ramping up for another exciting season after reaching the podium in tap and hip hop at the ironically named BU Dance Varsity Showcase in Mississauga last March. Since being elected in late April, the coordinators of BU Dance have been eagerly developing plans for their return to campus.

Senior coordinators Kate Vandermeulen and Rianna Ostrosser have been hard at work planning alongside junior coordinators Sonoma Brawley and Hannah-Michelle Samson, and club coordinators Korine Gravel and Alannah Stein. Ostrosser thinks back to being a first-year on the team: “We as coordinators have been reminiscing on our first days on the team and how it feels just like yesterday. It’s crazy to me how quickly the roles have changed and how we’re now the ones showing people around and welcoming them onto the team.”

Their first step for the coordinators was to begin the audition process by opening video audition submissions, through which students could audition for the competitive and pom teams over the summer. Some of the coordinators will also be choreographing dance numbers that will be used by the team at their varsity competition in March. To have dances completed and cleaned up in time for the competition, the majority of choreography has to be planned before the fall semester begins. “Although we all live at opposite ends of the country, it really wasn’t that difficult to discuss ideas and plans for the new season!”, Samson said about the executive team’s summer planning.

All of their hard work will pay off when they get to bring their team together once again this fall. Ostrosser talked about the environment that BU Dance has created for her, saying, “I can’t wait to see all the new and old faces walking back into the studio. The dance studio has always been a home to me and I’m grateful to share that feeling of safety and comfort with the team”.

Are you interested in joining BU Dance? The competitive team will be holding in-person auditions at the SportsPlex on Sept. 9 from 12-5 p.m., where Gaiters will have the opportunity to audition for jazz, tap, contemporary/lyrical, hip hop and ballet. BU Dance will also have a table at the Students’ Representative Council (SRC) Extra Day where students can learn more. For more info, check out @bishopsdance on Instagram!