With Archie Williams athletics ramping up and the fall sports season underway, the Archie Williams Dance Troupe delivered an exciting first performance at the Homecoming rally on Friday, Sept. 27. The team returns this year with eight new members, creating a fresh dynamic for choreography. Dance Troupe intends to keep audiences engaged with eight new exciting routines each year, keeping in mind the continuous evolution of dance.
Dance troupes began in the 1920s when schools introduced dance as a form of physical education. According to Epic Sports’s “Dance Team History,” during the 50’s over 150 dance squads were established at American high schools. Specifically during the Great Depression, dance troupes boomed in popularity, experimenting with styles such as swing, jitterbug, and rock ‘n’ roll.
According to the National Dance Education Organization, school dance troupes have become increasingly popular. In the 2021-2022 school year, it was estimated there were around 99,239 K-12 schools in the U.S. that provide dance education.
The new Archie Williams Dance Troupe first performed at the Homecoming rally and Homecoming football game, showcasing new and returning members with an exciting routine. The team prepares for performances with hour-long practices three times a week. Each year, the team creates and performs eight unique pieces of choreography.
Captains have a large influence over choreography for the upcoming routines. Seniors Grace Garvey, Meera Gordon, and Asha Mehta-Kahn, who have been members of the troupe for four years, were selected to become this year’s captains.
Team captain Asha, who joined Dance Troupe in her freshman year, has an extensive background in dance. Seeing her friends perform in Dance Troupe inspired her to join.
“I saw a couple of my older friends that [danced] with in my other studio dancing, so I was just inspired to join,” Asha said.
Dance Troupe holds tryouts twice a year, at the start of each semester. Dancers must learn a routine and perform it to the best of their ability in one day. This year, the troupe welcomed eight new members, including a male dancer.
When dance troupes originated, members consisted of only women. The dance community has progressed, and dance troupes across the nation have begun adding male members, becoming a more diverse environment. Although the Archie Williams dance troupe is mostly made up of female dancers, it is a gender-inclusive group.
This year, Archie Williams junior Jaden Nissen, who has been dancing hip hop for 11 years, joined the team. Although Jaden is not the first, he begins his first year on Dance Troupe as the only male team member, which has been a positive experience.
“I feel like a lot of guys are hesitant [to join Dance Troupe] just because they’re a guy. They are worried they won’t get in […] but I don’t think that’s a worry that should happen. It’s a really great community, everyone loves it,” Jaden said.
26-year-old Dance Troupe coach Lily Ashby assists in creating routines, as well as teaches captains how to choreograph themselves. She started dancing at four years old and begins her fifth year coaching the Archie Williams Dance Troupe this fall.
“There’s sort of a math to [choreography]. We slowly get more and more excited as the dance goes on. We save a lot of stunting, flips, and tricks for the end, our final piece,” Ashby said.
Multiple Archie Williams dancers perform stunts and tumbling that add a modern twist to their performances. Sophomore Paige Kelly was a gymnast for over ten years before recently quitting to focus on dance, and performs stunts in Dance Troupe.
“There’s surprise [in the crowd] when I’m tumbling, because I feel like that’s not a thing a bunch of other [dance troupes] have,” Paige said.
Each respective member of the dance troupe brings their own unique skill set to the table. Many have trained for years in ballet, contemporary, hip-hop, and many more styles of dance.
“Dance just as a whole keeps progressing and developing. Every year, there’s new styles. Every year, there’s new things that people are coming out with, moves we’ve never done before,” Ashby said.
Dance Troupe set a high bar for future routines with their successful performances this weekend. The Archie Williams community looks forward to seeing more of Dance Troupe and their promising year ahead, with seven more dances in store.
