They won’t be dancing on the sidelines of a bowl game in support of the football team, but that doesn’t mean the women of MSU Motion won’t be traveling during winter break.
The climax of the dance troupe’s season is at the Universal Dance Association Collegiate National Dance Team Championship in Orlando, Fla. In the second week of January, the women will go to Walt Disney World to participate in a two-day competition, saving the last day to relax and tour Disney World. Competing in the largest division, the team is ranked one of the top 10 in the nation and has an automatic advancement into the semifinals.
Motion co-captain Molly Jorgensen, a child development senior, is in her fourth year on the team. She said 13 of the 14 team members will be able to compete at nationals. If there are no injuries, the captains make the decision on who will compete.
Jenny Eckman, a hospitality business senior and co-captain, is also in her fourth year as a Motion member. The captains believe this is an exceptionally talented squad.
“Most of the team has had at least eight years of studio training and some cheerleading experience,” Eckman said. “Two years ago we finished third in the nation, and best among the Big Ten. We hope to be in the top five again this year.”
Last year was elementary education junior Jamie DeSteiger’s first taste of nationals.
She said the best part of it was seeing the group’s hard work pay off.
“For a moment in time we controlled the stage, where we went out there and nailed our routine better than we had ever done it before,” she said. “We worked hard and accomplished our goal.”
With another talented squad, DeSteiger looks forward to a successful outcome at nationals, but no matter how they do, the women know they are some of the best dancers at MSU - if not in the state.
Last year 100 women tried out for five spots. Tryouts are a two-week process where candidates spend three hours a day trying to learn complicated dances. To make matters worse, freshmen aren’t allowed to try out, which means the dancers, who are used to dancing competitively year-round, have a year off from dancing before trying to make one of the best collegiate dance teams in the nation.
Julie Maiorana, an elementary education sophomore, is a first-year Motion member. Maiorana has been dancing competitively for eight years.
“Motion tryouts were much harder than I thought they would be,” she said. “Final cuts were especially hard because everyone was extremely talented and you pretty much have one last shot, where anything can happen.”
Motion doesn’t have just dancing awards in its trophy case. During the summer at a dance camp with 49 teams from around the country, Motion received the leadership award.
“The award (is) given to the team other schools most aspire to be like,” Eckman said.
BRANDON HINKLE
