WEEK 6 OF 24 ~ Happy Turkey Day!

Happy Thanksgiving to all! We had an awesome break after a very long weekend prior to the holiday. We had hip hop choreography Friday night, took a very long trip to Syracuse for football, finished choreo all day on Sunday, and then had an 8AM Monday morning practice, all before heading home for Turkey Day. The great part is that our dance is amazing! We worked so hard, and came together as a team like never before. The energy and effort that was put forth by all 15 dancers was incredible. So, at this point, we've got our entire costume and makeup planned out, and the choreography done- all before 2011! Yay! We're so ahead of schedule, and we have plenty of cleaning time.

On top of all that, UCONN Athletics are making this season unforgettable. We've got the football team one game away from being the 2010 Big East champions for the first time in history, and heading to the BCS Fiesta Bowl (fingers crossed for a win against South Florida...). We've got the men's basketball team upsetting the #2 team in the country (Michigan State) and the #9 team in the country (Coach Cal and Kentucky), AND the 2010 Maui Invitational champions. We've also got the women's basketball team who is still undefeated, ranked #1 in the country and on track to break the record for the longest winning streak of any sports team. Ever. IT'S A GREAT DAY TO BE A HUSKY!!!

UC DANCE AND CHEER BEFORE OUR BIG WIN AT SYRACUSE!

Upcoming events: jazz choreo Dec. 4/5th, the announcement of men's basketball rankings (go Huskies!), performance at our first basketball halftime (performing a jazz dance to "Amazing"), and 20-something days from Christmas!!! We truly have SO much to be thankful for :-)

QUOTE FOR THE WEEK:

If small things make you really angry, then that indicates something about your size.

WEEKS 4 AND 5 OF 24 ~ NOVEMBER AHH!

Well- November is living up to it's reputation! You like to think Turkey, and family, and pretty leaves on the trees; but we haven't had time to think about that stuff! Football is overlapping with basketball and nationals and finals...but its where we thrive. We've had some pivotal athletic moments within the past 2 weeks- a HUGE football win at home vs. Pittsburgh (#1 in the Big East), a HUGE women's basketball win at home vs. Baylor (#2 in the nation; UCONN continues 80-0 winning streak!), not to mention our men's soccer team is currently playing in the NCAA tournament!! It is a GREAT month to be a Husky!!

We've been having fun sitting on the sidelines at our basketball games, and we've started performing at a timeout each game. This is very exciting for our team. So far we've debuted the  "Breaking Dishes" dance from NDA camp. Up next- "Whip My Hair." We are very pumped for that!

SIDELINES!!!!



BEGINNING OF "BREAKING DISHES"

  Practices are few and far between, which means we are really stepping up the pace and intensity within our 2-hour window. We are coming together like a family should, and making it work! We did lose another team member, so we are at 15- but we plan to pull together like no other within these next few months. We're heading to Syracuse this weekend, and.............NATIONALS HIP HOP CHOREOGRAPHY!! Can you sense the excitement? Our music/concept/costume came together beautifully. It will be a very exciting moment to be able to perform it for the first time! But we must start on our cardio immediately :-/

We get to learn jazz from Kyle on the Dec. 4th weekend, and can't wait! We've got 6-7 different costume selections so far, but we're waiting to see the choreo until we make a final decision. So far, so good!! We're very proud and very pumped for what lies ahead!! Here are the quotes from the last 3 weeks...

WEEK 3 OF 24
“When I dare to be powerful, to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid.”

WEEK 4 OF 24
“The difference between try and triumph is a little umph.”

WEEK 5 OF 24

“Don’t be better than everybody else. Be better than you ever thought you could be.”

Week 3 of 24 ~ And So It Begins

November is a busy month for us! Last night we had our first UCONN men's basketball game of the season, and our first women's game tonight. It is incredible to be a part of such a basketball legacy! We feel so lucky to be on this team. The dance team was a club sport in the past, so we are slowly transitioning into becoming a regular part of the game-day atmosphere. It was very exciting to be sitting on the sidelines for the first time (for the whole game)! Many other dance teams may take this for granted, but it is a wonderful step in the right direction for our team. We are so pumped! We will be spending lots of time reviewing "sideline etiquette," however. Our coach had a nice LONG list of corrections/tips for us once the game was over! :-)

Friday night, we had a football game that resulted in the fans rushing the field, and an awesome win over West Virginia. It was a memorable game, to say the least! We had Halloween treats in the locker room, and we got to be Disney princesses for the whole game. Our two seniors Amy and Katy got to wear special "senior" tiaras.


WEARING OUR DISNEY PRINCESS TIARAS DURING HUSKY WALK!



SENIOR KATY WEARING HER SPECIAL TIARA!



SENIOR AMY WEARING HER SPECIAL TIARA!

We had an AMAZING (but cold) performance with the marching band. This was another "first" for our program. It felt great to perform in front of all those people under the bright lights. It is very important to us to use each and every performance opportunity to step our game up. We intend to improve our performance quality every chance we get. Here is a photo before our performance:


At practice this week, we had a long chat about our ultimate vision of our team. We focused on keeping that "clear vision" and not getting distracted from our goals. We know exactly where we want to be, and are prepared to take the necessary steps to get there. We were motivated and it definitely showed when we started dancing! We could feel an energy in the room, which made us all dance beyond our "norm." We could not be more proud of the progress we have made thus far, and look forward to big things in the future :-)

**Since we have 3 games this week, we did not have our normal Wednesday practice to reveal our quote of the week. So, next week we will have two!