The MSU Urban Dreams Dance Team started during the spring semester of 2002 as a small group of people who just wanted to dance — since then, it has evolved into a premier dance club at the university.
The team was officially solidified as a student organization in 2002, and after 13 years of forging friendships and delivering performances, team chemistry remains a key factor in the team’s success.
The dance team currently has 17 members, and it is hard not to notice the skill and accomplishments of the group, Urban Dreams Dance Team president Lisa Crite said.
“We do perform at other colleges and have competed at other colleges,” Crite, a food industry management senior, said. “We have competed at Western (Michigan University) and we have competed at Oakland (University) and won both competitions this past year.”
The name of the team is constructed on a motto implemented by co-founder and alumna Cheryl Neal. The motto showcases the goals of the team as well as their diversity, dancing style, and overall talent — “United Races Blended As Notorious Dancers Representing Each Aspect of Modern and Street.”
The team also specializes in hip hop and street performances, but their members are skilled in other fields of dance as well.
“We do have people that do ballet, and we also have done African dancing and sometimes we throw in a little gymnastics,” Crite said.
On campus, the team has also had a presence in different events such as Sparticipation, Spartan Remix and Creative Collaboration, Urban Dreams Dance Team vice president Jasmine Watts said.
“We host the (MSU Urban Dreams) Grammys every year, which is like a showcase for student talent,” Watts, a journalism senior, said.
Watts said the chemistry within the group is similar to the chemistry an individual could have with a family member.
Although the team is co-ed, currently the group is made up only of women.
“We are all very close as a team,” Watts said. “We call each other sisters and we have team bondings and sleepovers. ... Some people say we are (kind of) like a sorority, but I don’t think so. It’s just because we are so close that we are like sisters.”
Watts has climbed her way up the Urban Dreams Dance Team ladder — she started as a member of the team during her freshman year, and has previously held positions of treasurer and public relations director before securing her vice presidency for her senior year.
But, there are still numerous things Watts said she can take away from being a four-year member.
“I have gotten close relationships with people older than me on the team who I can call my mentors,” Watts said. “I just learned how to do a lot of things — networking with event organizations and collaborating with them, and public speaking when we host events.”
The team will be holding a dance clinic on October 8 from 8 to 10 p.m. in support of people who are affected by breast cancer. The donation fee is $3.
Watts also emphasized that having a dance background is not essential to becoming a member of the team, and encouraged anyone who loves dancing or believes they have talent in the discipline to stop by the dance clinic and give it a shot.
