United in Dance By: Natalia Ribeiro
Behind the awards is a team of dedication, hard work, and practice. You might have seen them at sports games or heard about them through social media. But how much do you know about the university’s award-winning dance team? The dance team has been around since 1988, when it used to be called FAU Motion at that time. The program took a break and returned in 1996. The team calls the dancers Fly Girls, as the university’s spirit program consists of both the cheerleading and dance team. Although cheer and dance teams are under the same program name, the teams aren’t mixed together. “It began under the direction of Anessa Castello,” said head dance coach and spirit coordinator Claudia Soto, who is an alumna. “She was also my coach, my first year.” While COVID-19 has made the season different for the dancers, they learned to not take anything for granted. Due to the pandemic last year, they were not able to compete at their Nationals competition. Nationals are basically a competition where the team will compete against different college dance teams from around the country. “It’s so important to always be in the moment and [be] thankful for the opportunity that we have to dance,” said team captain Trinity Kueter. “You never really know what tomorrow holds.” The team has gained recognition in the past couple years. Three of the last four seasons had the team place in the top five in the nation at the National Dance Alliance (NDA) competition. “Our highest placement was second in 2018,” said Soto. “That is pretty awesome as a coach to see them succeed.” Potential and a strong foundation in dance are two aspects that the team looks for in prospective dancers.
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3rd year veteran and co-captain Annalise Calvert performs during the 2020 season. Photo Courtesy of FAU Dance Team.
