Dance team hosts kids’ dance clinic

On Saturday, the Rose-Hulman Dance Team hosted their annual Dance Clinic in the Multi-Purpose Room of the SRC. According to Jenn Cringoli, the senior biomedical engineer who primarily organized the event, the clinic has gone on for four to five years and was developed in order to involve the Dance Team with the community. The Dance Team sent out flyers to two local elementary schools, Lost Creek and Meadows, as well as to the faculty and staff to have their children participate.

The targeted age group for this even is children in first through fifth grade, or ages between five and ten years old. There were 29 children participating last year, and this year they had 23 children show up. There are usually around half of their participants from the previous year. There are also sibling couples that come to the clinic.

Parents dropped their children off around noon. The clinic was organized to run with a brief warm-up for the children, and then split up into groups, pairing two dance team members with five children, where they taught them one dance routine. Cringoli mentioned that they also include dance trivia to give them a break, as well as use familiar dances like the Macarena and the Chicken Dance to help the program go along. After the clinic, the children were led into Hulbert Arena to watch the first half of the men’s basketball game and they performed to “Life is a Highway” by Rascal Flatts at halftime.

Cringoli said that the clinics used to be hosted on Saturday, and when Rose-Hulman was in the SCAC conference, the games were on Sunday, so it was an interesting turnout when they performed on Sunday. This is the first year when they practice and perform on the same day. “I’m interested to see how it will turn out this year. I think it’s more practical this way,” explained Cringoli when interviewed before the event.

Photo: Chris Casillas The Dance Team performs their prepared dance with the children during the halftime show of the men’s basketball game on Saturday.

Patrick Ferro, Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering, brought his daughter to participate. “My daughter, Cecilia, is six and this is her second year doing it. She really enjoys it, and she asked when she could do it again. My wife and I really enjoy watching it too.”

The members of the dance team thought the program went very well. “I thought it was really successful and they all seemed to have a really good time. It was a positive experience,” mentioned Jenn Cringoli. Sam Sheets, a junior biomedical engineer also was pleased with the event. “I thought that the dance clinic when very well. It was a lot of fun, and I think all the little girls had a good time. Being able to do a dance clinic is always a fun experience because you are able to teach something to children. This was my 3rd year doing the dance clinic and every year it is growing. It is always fun to see some of the girls show up from previous years to do the clinic because they are always so excited to dance.”

Besides Cringoli and Sheets, the rest of the dance team is composed of freshman. Rachel Schaftlein, a freshman chemical engineer had positive thoughts on the event. “I thought the dance clinic went really well. All of the kids were pretty exhausted by the end of it though. Everyone had a good time and all of the kids participated.” Brittaney Mauer, a freshman biomedical engineer, had similar feelings. “It was great! The girls were adorable and I was glad to give up a Saturday for such a fun time.”