The University of Indianapolis Dance Team hosted its annual showcase & silent auction on March 6 in Ruth Lilly Performance Hall. The dancers performed routines from throughout the season, as well as student choreographed routines, according to senior biology and chemistry pre-optometry major Megan Rice. Those who bid on the silent auction items from local businesses help the team raise money for Nationals on April 9, Rice said.
Rice was excited for the dance showcase because the team has not been able to do it for the past two years, according to Rice. She said the team was cut off right before the showcase and Nationals due to the COVID-19 pandemic during her sophomore year.
“It’s really exciting to be able to do this,” Rice said. “Especially with the girls that have been on the team but haven’t been able to experience it—I’m excited for them too.”
Junior business administration and management major Brooklyn Burbrink is unlike Rice in that she had never experienced a dance showcase at UIndy before. Burbrink said she is also a fundraiser chair for the dance team, which puts her in charge of finding and scheduling fundraisers for the team.
“I’m excited because obviously COVID[-19] sort of messed up both my freshman year and sophomore year,” Burbrink said. “So this is my first showcase that I’ve been able to do with the team.”
As for what the showcase looked like, Rice said there was a silent auction stationed in front of the showcase to help raise money for the team for Nationals. Rice said that when people walked in to the showcase, they saw a video playing of what the team has done throughout the year.
“We do our two Nationals routines, and then we do all the routines we did during football and basketball season, and then dispersed in there are dances that we choreographed or maybe an old dance that someone did while they were in high school,” Rice said. “We all just do different dances that we’ve either done or choreographed in between those routines.”
According to Burbrink, the showcase is really helpful for the team’s parents and families that cannot make the basketball and football games. The showcase gives them this one event that they can come see everything that the dance team has done all season, Burbrink said.
“I would say it’s important because it gives us face-time,” Burbrink said. “I know a lot of people don’t know that we have a dance team. Also, it can sort of help us get recruitment, especially from people that are on campus that don’t know that we exist.”
Rice said she is really happy with the group of girls on the dance team. This might be her favorite team in the four years she has been at the university, she said.
“We’re really hard working this year and I think we can see our improvement and we want to keep improving,” Rice said. “I think everyone wants to work as hard as the girl standing next to them.”
