The UMass Dance Team Blog

We have officially made UMass Amherst dance team history! Placing second in the NDA championships, we could not be more ecstatic. Although we are extremely proud of our accomplishment, there were, of course, some bumps in the road along the way. While dancing on the finals stage, about one a half minutes into our routine the music had shut off. Keeping the rules of performing in mind, every one of us kept dancing. The music was silenced and the crowd was screaming but we all focused our attention onto our captain yelling the counts, allowing us to stay in unison. Luckily we were allowed to perform our routine one more time. We caught our breathes and gave the routine all we had for a second time. Despite this mishap, we captured an innovative choreography award and second place overall for division 1 schools!

The UMass dance team has been attending NDA for a few years now and this is the best we have ever placed. Some teams in the past have recieved 3rd place but never pushed it to 2nd. We are growing stronger each year and have proven to be on the same competitive level as the top division 1 dance teams. Excitied and ready to work hard, we will return next year even more strong!

If you would like to check out our routine at finals, click here and search University of Massachusetts!

Check out our photo gallery page for more pictures from Daytona!

After a year of preparation, our annual national competition is only a couple of days away! Extremely ecstatic and full of nerves, we’ve worked harder than ever this semester and are ready to take home the trophy. Before we board the plane and fly off to Daytona Beach, FL, we still have one more performance, “The Exhibition.”  The Exhibition, better known as our Friends and Family event, is a chance for us to show off our hard work and perform our full nationals routine for those who won’t be with us in Florida. This event is not only for us but also for the UMass cheerleaders, as they will also be competing in Florida.

When: Sunday, April 5th 2009, 5pm-7pm

Where: The Curry Hicks Cage at UMass Amherst (Campus Map)

Photo: UMass Dance Team and UMass Cheerleaders in Daytona Beach, FL last year.

It will be an event you won’t want to miss!

Haven’t seen us perform in awhile? Here’s your chance!

Come out and support us tonight at the festival of the arts! We will be performing part of our nationals routine in the Student Union at 9:30 PM. Other talented teams from UMass will be performing as well. It will be an exciting and entertaining night that you won’t want to miss!

On Monday, November 24th we debuted our first two basketball game performances of the 08-09 season! We did both a jazz and a hip-hop routine. If you unfortunately missed our dances, click here to see a video of our hip-hop dance!

Here are some pictures of us from the game:

Missed our first performances?… no worries, you can catch us at the next game on this upcoming Saturday, December 6th, as well as the remaining home basketball games!

Despite the cold weather and the upsetting loss, we still managed to have some fun! Here are some pictures from Homecoming ’08:

Simone Shenny, Sarah Stevens, Bethany Brindley, and Siobhan O’Keefe

Lauren Wischhusen, Sarah Stevens, Bethany Brindley, and Siobhan O’Keefe

Jackie Bourque, Katie Judge, Caitlyn Melia, Dominique Pagan, Jessica Rubnitz and Caitlin Bohara.

Kelly Pinola, Danielle Degnan, Trish Fox, Chelsea Gilbert, Stephanie Marchese, Ashley Konrad and Simone Shenny.

Jessica Rubnitz, and Loren Picciarelli

Caitlin Bohara, and Jessica Rubnitz

Dominique Pagain, Caitin Bohara, Loren Picciarelli, and Jessica Rubnitz

Caitlin Bohara, Caitlyn Melia, Jessica Rubnitz, and Katie Judge with dance team alumni Christine Rozolis

Dominique Pagan, Caitlin Bohara, Caitlyn Melia, Loren Picciarelli, and Jessica Rubnitz

2008-2009 UMass Dance Team with Sam the Minuteman