Ladies of the Dance

Twelve young women alone on a huge stage. Thousands of spectators staring at their every move with thousands more watching on national television. Hundreds of hours of practice boiling down to two minutes and fifteen seconds of adrenaline-fueled dance.

That was the scene last year at the National Dance Alliance Collegiate Championship in Daytona Beach, Fla. The squad of scrutinized athletes was Harvard’s very own Crimson Dance Team (CDT).

The team, which is a largely self-funded and entirely student-run group, had never finished higher than 12th place at the national tournament. It’s a safe bet that most of the people watching that day probably did not expect much from these Ivy League girls.

As it would turn out, though, last year’s CDT members stunned everyone but themselves as they took fifth place at Nationals, breaking into the final round for the first time in the group’s six-year history. The CDT finished within striking distance of established national dance programs like Towson and UNC-Charlotte.

“Making the top 10 has been a goal of the team ever since it was founded, and making the top five was a goal we made during that spring break,” says tri-captain Maya Horii ’02. “[Finishing in fifth] was like all of our dreams over the past few years coming true.”

“I will never forget standing by the stage when our scores were announced,” Horii added.

Now in its seventh year of existence, it seems that the CDT can look ahead to an even brighter future and perhaps continue to assert itself on the national stage. With an abundance of new talent, the hiring of a professional choreographer, and increased visibility on campus, the CDT is looking to take its spirit and savvy to new heights.

CDT: A Primer

The average Harvard student probably knows very little about the CDT, perhaps aside from the fact that it performs during halftime of the men’s and women’s basketball games in the winter. Even then, though, not many people appreciate the time commitment and energy that goes into preparing just one of those halftime performances.

The CDT was founded in the spring of 1995 by Roxanne Pan ’96 and Azucena Verdin ’98 with the ostensible purpose of providing Harvard dancers with “the opportunity to practice and perform at a consistently intense level.”

As the group’s year-round schedule and rigorous practices demonstrate, the CDT takes this commitment very seriously.

“We all believe that it is important to dance regularly and at an intense level,” says tri-captain Vedra Chandler ’02.

Newcomer Megan Cameron ’05 also values dancing regularly as “a way to relieve stress” and to structure time.

Altogether, CDT members meet, practice and perform for roughly 20 hours each week in the spring and only slightly less in the fall. Three nights a week, the team goes over its routines in three-hour practices. The dancers also meet for a 90-minute strength and conditioning workout twice a week.

In addition to the rigors of physical practice, the CDT also meets once a week for an hour to discuss general team issues. Although there are only 12 girls on this year’s squad, team members are assigned to one of four sub-committees to work on aspects of publicity, fundraising, web development, or general financial issues.

Combined with performances every Friday and Saturday night during the basketball season, the wear and tear on the dancers can be quite severe. Cameron jokes that she and fellow freshmen Thea Daniels and Kim Gould spend most of their time talking about how sore they are after practice.

Still, the team perseveres. There are issues about practice space—the CDT occasionally has to change venues between the QRAC, the MAC mezzanine room, and Rieman Hall in Radcliffe Quad to accommodate other dance groups—but this constant displacement rarely affects their generally genial disposition.

“Because our team is so small, we have a great group dynamic,” Chandler said. “And that’s really what keeps us going week in and week out.”

Cohesiveness is certainly important for a squad that is competitive on the national stage, but perhaps the most amazing part of this year’s team is the influx of new talent and energy. Half the team is new this year, and their backgrounds and talents lend fresh legs to an already strong program.

Finding New Talent

Daniels and Gould first met when they both visited Harvard in the summer before their senior year of high school. On separate whirlwind tours of East Coast colleges, neither one was really dead set on applying.

For Daniels, a blond-haired, bright-eyed Oklahoman, the prospect of going to Harvard was always more of a casual whim than a concrete goal. Though she enjoyed her visit, Daniels didn’t have her heart set on Harvard and in fact believed she would end up somewhere like Georgetown or UCLA.

For Gould, a sun-loving Californian with strong Stanford roots running at least three generations deep, her first experience of life along the Charles left her somewhat underwhelmed. It seemed that Palo Alto was becoming more and more of a reality.

Coincidentally, the two girls would meet repeatedly over the next week on tours at different colleges and strike up a friendship. It was far from a coincidence, however, that they ended up at Harvard.

For if it’s one thing that Daniels and Gould share in common, it’s a love of dance.

And as they soon found out, Harvard is home to one of the nation’s premier dance teams.

As Gould puts it, her two most important criteria in looking at colleges were “volleyball and dancing.” Harvard afforded her the opportunity to play Division I volleyball, while the CDT gave her a chance to continue dancing, an activity she has enjoyed since she was four years old.

Daniels, who also started dancing at four, likewise brings a long-standing dance ethic to the team. A four-year All-American cheerleader at Heritage Hall High School, Daniels excelled with a local dance group, Kim Massay Dance Productions, and eventually became a Level 10 gymnast (which is one level below Olympic athletes) before injuries forced her out of the sport.

But Daniels and Gould aren’t the only new members who have made an immediate impact. Cameron, who like Gould is from California and like Daniels was once an All-American cheerleader, rounds out arguably the strongest freshman class in the history of the team.

“The new girls definitely have impressive dance credentials and there is definitely a big difference on the team,” says Joyce Demonteverde ’03, who will serve as co-captain of next year’s squad. “They add to the energy and the execution of our performances and practices.”

The team has also taken advantage of its higher visibility to recruit from outside the freshman and even the undergraduate ranks.

Melanie Huang, a first-year student at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, was a member of the Stanford dance team as an undergraduate and figured she would try out for the Harvard team.

Rebecca Gomez ’04 decided to try out for the team upon learning of the open auditions held every fall.

Sarah Whitlock ’03, the final member of the incoming class of CDT, was actually approached by members of the team during an independent dance class and urged to try out for the squad.

“We sent e-mails back and forth and I finally decided to try out,” Whitlock said. “It was a long process with separate call backs and it was actually pretty nerve-racking.”

Indeed, all prospective members, including returning danceers, must re-audition. The captains monitor the tryouts, have multiple rounds of call backs and only take a handful of eager applicants. This past year, for instance, over 40 people tried out for the group and only the eventual twelve were selected.

“Auditions get more and more competitive each year,” says tri-captain Maritess Panlilio ’02. “And each year, we even get e-mails from freshmen in high school asking about trying out for the team in four years.”

The group, newly assembled in the fall, immediately begins practicing its routines for basketball performances and, more importantly, for the national competition.

Unlike past teams, though, the 2001-02 CDT was able to hire a professional choreographer to work with the group this year. And according to the feedback thus far, having a pro has paid off.

The Royer Treatment

If nothing else, Shaun Royer’s resume reads like the guest list of an MTV after-party.

In addition to being captain of his cheerleading squad at UT-Austin and a dance coach at three other colleges, Royer has had professional dance experience with the likes of Britney Spears, Jennifer Lopez, Ricky Martin, DMX, and Paula Abdul.

It’s no wonder, then, that the CDT captains jumped on the chance to hire Royer as the team’s first non-member choreographer.

“After spending a year advertising, we were really lucky to find him,” Panlilio said.

Panlilio and the other captains recruited Royer by e-mail and he auditioned with the team last year. After some deliberation, the captains decided to hire the professional choreographer in the hopes of improving the squad and alleviating the burden on the captains. In previous years, captains were responsible for conducting practices and designing the dance moves of every performance, including the national competition.

Now, with Royer, the CDT looks to take the next step.

“Having Shaun around is great because he works so well with us,” says Natasha Kennedy-Paesler ’04. “We definitely try our hardest in practice because he drives so far to be with us twice a week.”

A resident of Stockbridge, Mass., Royer makes the two-and-a-half hour commute into Cambridge just to work with the team for three hours twice a week. Then, Royer hops in his car and drives two-and-a-half hours back, sometimes arriving home as late as 1 a.m.

When asked why he spends ten hours a week in his car just for the dance team, Royer laughs and shrugs it off as part of the job.

“I just love these girls,” Royer said. “I love their energy and their commitment and I really just enjoy teaching dance at the college level.”

Bring It On … to Another Level

This year has already proved to be quite an interesting one for the CDT. After successful practices in the fall, the team shot a video of a dance routine to send to the National Dance Alliance (NDA).

Last year, after the NDA reviewed its video, the team earned a paid bid to the Collegiate Championships, thereby saving the cash-strapped student group at least $3,000.

This year, however, the tape inexplicably didn’t make it to the NDA in its original form. For some reason, most likely related to mail disturbances after the tragic events of September 11, the CDT video arrived damaged and therefore impossible to evaluate.

Despite pleas from the captains, NDA director Bill Boggs informed the team in December that it would not receive a paid bid and would have to fund its own trip to Daytona Beach this April.

“At first, the team was disappointed,” Panlilio said. “But then we talked it over and everyone took it positively.”

The financial setback has motivated the CDT to work even harder to raise money and to perfect its routine in time for the tournament after spring break.

One fundraising event the team devised is this weekend’s dance clinic in Rieman Hall. On Sunday, from 1 to 3 p.m., Royer will teach a hip-hop class to any undergraduates who make donations directly to team members.

Horii expects the turnout will be sizable since the minimum donation is only five dollars for the opportunity to learn from a professional choreographer.

In addition to Royer’s clinic, the team also plans to take other steps to increase its chances for success in April. According to Kennedy-Paesler, who will be the other co-captain next year, the CDT will go dry for the entire month leading up to the national tournament, beginning this weekend.

Also, the team will undergo what members fondly refer to as “spring break boot camp” while friends and fellow students are busy partying on beaches. All twelve members will remain in Cambridge and practice every day for six hours and then break down videotape at team meetings at night for another two hours.

Although the goal for the CDT is certainly the National Tournament, the team also has other matters to consider before the end of the year. In May the team will put on a show in Lowell Lecture Hall featuring original choreography from each member of the team. In the fall, according to Kennedy-Paesler, the CDT hopes to begin dancing during halftime at football games.

And if their basketball halftime shows are any indication, the Department of Athletics should consider the team’s offer. During the halftime show in the men’s basketball contest versus Penn, spectators commented that the performance was “terrific,” “splendid,” and “eye-catching.”

Judy Halks, the mother of a boys’ basketball player at Marblehead High School, offered another insight.

“Those girls were simply amazing,” Halks said. “And believe me, they definitely got the boys’ attention.”

This weekend, the women’s basketball games will mark the final home appearance for the CDT before Daytona. The team, by all accounts, hopes to give two more great performances before calling it a season.

The doors for the games open at 6 p.m., but you might want to get there a little early. After all, the Marblehead boys’ basketball team may be making another visit to Lavietes Pavilion. And this time, they might be bringing friends.