When thinking of distinctively UChicago activities, Scav or MODA are often the first to come to mind. Athletics, however, rarely do. More so, if you are one of the few undergraduate students that holds down the fort in the stands at UChicago baseball or football games, it is safe to assume that the dance groups on campus are probably not a part of your normal athletic rotation.
Even if dance is indeed the first thing that comes to a UChicago student’s mind, it is rarely in a context that fully appreciates the work that dancers put into their craft. Just as all UChicago athletes balance being a full-time student with dedicating extensive time toward their part-time athletic careers, UChicago’s dancers have to similarly balance their schedules.
UChicago Bhangra, Tap That!, Ex Crew, UChicago Maya, UChicago Ballet, and many other groups make up the ecosystem of dance on campus. Throughout the course of a week, these athletes train in and out of the rehearsal room, dedicating practice time in the late hours of the day and squeezing in conditioning sessions whenever possible.
The physical demands needed to perform are similar for each group but manifest in different ways. For Bhangra, late-night rehearsals and extra conditioning work are dedicated to building the stamina necessary for the discipline’s unique eight-minute sets. “Something that’s interesting about Bhangra is that every dancer has to be visible for the entire eight minutes. You’re not allowed to stop dancing for those times,” explained third-year Bhangra Captain Arnav Reddy.
“We always say that that tap is as big of a commitment as we want it to be, but especially towards performances, that commitment tends to be pretty big in a way that I really appreciate,” second-year Tap That! Vice President Kaci Rose Goldberg added. “I think you need a lot of rehearsal to not only become a better tapper, but also to get in sync with the girls around you.”
Even for an experienced dancer like Goldberg, whose extensive dance background has allowed performances to become second nature, the preparation needed before dancing still demands a high level of physicality. “Especially before going onstage, there’s a certain warmup aspect to it. You’re on your feet, roll out your ankles, do a couple steps, do a couple nerve taps, jumping jacks, all sorts of general athletic things.”
First-year Ex Crew member Paris Bedford echoed Goldberg’s sentiment, explaining, “When competitions come up, it is a lot more serious. I think a lot of people think dance is something that’s just fun, and it is fun, but it does take a lot of work.”
This work, however, isn’t always directly seen in the rehearsal room. “Outside of practice, we’ll prepare all the formations, choreograph all the segments, watch all the videos, [and] see how people are doing,” Reddy explained.
According to Bedford, Ex Crew’s dance arrangements call for a similar level of planning, with the choreography behind the group’s intense physical movements requiring a significant time commitment outside the rehearsal room. “Our board members and the people that are choreographing these dances put a lot of pride into their work and they want to see us succeed. And so it is a very serious endeavor when it comes to the practices that we are having.”
While these extensive preparations for regional competitions are often physically and mentally stressful for UChicago’s dancers, the dancers also collectively take time to exhibit their talent locally, showcasing their work to a UChicago audience in a yearly performance that offers a glimpse into the talent that has been on campus all along.
Every year, UChicago’s dance groups host a “Where Fun Comes to Dance” competition that invites members of the UChicago student body to see what their peers have been working on all year. Each dance group is able to showcase their unique style of dance for the University community. These performances thus not only act as a space of expression for these dancers but also present an opportunity for UChicago students to escape the mundanity of their work and engage with the talent on campus.
While tapping, hip-hop, and high-energy folk dance may not seem like they have a lot of crossover, all UChicago dancers find themselves in rehearsal spaces at the end of a long day. Reddy, Goldberg, and Bedford all rehearse at least two times a week, beginning in the evening and sometimes stretching into the time of day where the sun has set and the quad has quieted—a testament to the commitment of UChicago’s dancers to their art. While very much as an artistic discipline, dance is, at its core, an athletic pursuit. The precision, focus, and endurance needed to execute performances is no easy task, and, while UChicago’s dancers may make it look easy, there is certainly a high level of athleticism required by all of these groups on campus. Much like a track star pushing off the starting block or a seasoned quarterback launching a 20-yard pass, these students have found a second, physically demanding passion that extends beyond their academic pursuits.
