The marching band’s final notes ring out in the stadium as the dance team rushes onto the field, full of energy. The music starts, the dancers’ bodies rolling and the crowd roars with excitement.

The Spartan Dance Team made this year’s debut at the first home football game on Sept. 19. In addition to performing at games, the team also performs at various events throughout the year, including the Homecoming Parade.

A lot of preparation led up to the first performance, according to first-year student Amanda Smith, who is new to the Spartan Dance Team this year. “The practices were pretty easy since this dance was the same one that we had to do for our auditions. During the two weeks leading up to the game, we practiced twice a week and worked on cleaning it up,” she said.

When it came to the actual performance, Smith said, “Performing on the field was a bit nerve wracking. It was our first time performing in front of other people, so naturally we wanted it to be perfect.”

That morning the team did practice on the field. “It felt weird to be dancing on the turf since we were so used to practicing in the dance studio, but I think we adjusted pretty well,” said Smith. “Overall, it was a great experience and I can’t wait to perform again.”

From the audience’s perspective, the dance started off with lots of energy and pumped up the audience, but that energy soon fell in the crowd. Overall the experience was pretty underwhelming. The routine was full of twisting and kicking, but besides that there wasn’t much variation. There were several times when the group wasn’t in sync, distracting from the routine.

Despite this the performance was full of spirit and did a great job of exciting the crowd for the most part. It is a shame the performance was so short. It left others and me feeling a little disappointed and wanting more from the group.

Overall the group’s debut was a promising start to the season. I’m sure the quality of the dances will go up from here and the audience will leave next time feeling more satisfied.