Dance Team: Beyond the Sidelines

Written by: Kara Eliason
Head coach, Dance team

When most people think of dance teams, they envision pep rallies and halftime shows.

Make no mistake, promoting school spirit is our No. 1 job. We support students, athletes, faculty and staff by performing on campus. But that’s just part of what we do.

The world of collegiate dance is competitive, especially in Minnesota. Two of the three reigning national champions—the University of Minnesota and the University of St. Thomas—hail from the North Star State. In addition, Minnesota has some of the best studio and high school dance programs in the nation. Hamline is proud to be part of this amazing dance community.

The dance team competes regionally, and the results have been great so far. The Pipers placed in the top 10 in every competition they’ve entered in the last two years. It’s no small feat, given that Hamline competes against DI, DII and DIII dance teams from across the Midwest.

College dance has an intricate scoring system, similar to that of gymnastics. Judges score routines based on several elements—from synchronization to technique to showmanship. It takes months to perfect a routine, from learning choreography to making sure every dancer performs in unison.

This season, we hired choreographer Rachel Doran to put together our competition routine. She incorporated new elements, including lifts, leaps and turn combinations. The dancers learned the routine in September and spent weeks perfecting it. It was the most challenging routine in the team’s history, but the hard work paid off.

Here's that routine:


Hamline took 3rd place in the DIII jazz category at the Tommie Invitational in November 2009. In addition, the Pipers competed against DI, DII and DIII teams at the Mall of America in January 2010 and earned 10th place overall in jazz. Of course, winning trophies isn’t our primary objective. We compete because it provides a forum for us to showcase our talent, and it pushes us to continuously improve as a team.

The dance team will start performing again in September, and we look forward to promoting school spirit on campus. But we also hope to make our mark in the competitive arena—and maybe win some trophies along the way.

From one sport to the next

Written by: Kara Poirier
First-year, Eau Claire, Wis.
Women's Basketball, Softball

The sun was finally starting to shine, the snow had begun to melt, I could walk outside without wearing thirteen layers of clothes, and I was sad and excited at the same time. My emotions had very little to do with the weather, and almost everything to do with my sports. At this time of year, basketball had just ended. The season that people say seems to last forever did come to a close, and it seemed all too soon for me. It’s always disappointing when the season ends. I had put so much time and effort into it, and practice and games had become a habitual part of every day. My schedule seemed all messed up now. Most people wouldn’t know what to do with all this extra time. Not me, though. This is where the excitement comes in. One day my season ends and things are sadly brought to a close, and the next day (literally) I’m at a new practice, beginning a new season.

The overlap of basketball and softball doesn’t allow for much down-time, or any for that matter, and it can be difficult to switch from one sport to the next overnight. I have to admit, the first couple softball practices were pretty rusty, and felt all wrong, but soon enough I got into the flow of things. I did have to go back to those feelings and experiences of being a first-year athlete again, not knowing what to expect or what was going on, like I had had when basketball first began, but nonetheless, I was grateful to be active. It took my mind off moping about basketball, and gave me the same type of schedule I had before. We’re now playing outside, and I’m excited to be a part of this new team, and have another season ahead of me. (Although I will continue to make appearances in the gym, of course.)

Being a first-year athlete

Written by: Kara Poirier
First-year, Eau Claire, Wis.
Women's Basketball, Softball

Being a first-year athlete in college was just about the best experience I could have asked for. Sure there were times when I felt like I had no free time; sleep, eat, class, and practice was basically my whole schedule, but I wouldn’t have had it any other way. I’ve met some great people because of my involvement and we’ve had some even better times.

At first I was always nervous for practice, not really knowing what to expect from day-to-day, and wondering how I was going to be able to move at all since I was so sore from Hartman workouts. I spent a lot of time cluelessly following the actions of the upperclassmen, really having no idea what was going on, and then getting yelled at for not doing the little things right in a drill (even though the drill was never really explained to me in the first place). But pretty soon I began to pick up on exactly how things were done, and before I knew it I wasn’t nervous for practice anymore, I was completely excited. Practice became my break from everything else.

The transition from high school to college is a big one, but for the most part, it’s a positive change. I went from riding a rickety old school bus to away games to nice coach buses (though no one cares to use the on-board toilet facility, which I didn’t realize until I noticed I was the only one to use it…the whole season), from buying my own food to team meals on game day that were paid for, from a team consisting of some people who didn’t really want to be there to a team full of dedicated athletes that share my passion. It’s exhilarating to be challenged to step up to the next level, even if you don’t succeed every time. I’ve definitely had my ups and downs this year, but the best part about being a first year is that I’m a sophomore next year.