FLY's Q&A
FLY's Q&A with Urban Dance Troupe
By Nicole Benner, Photos: Nicole Benner
May 2008
* All quotes are from Raquel Fernandez, president of UDT, unless otherwise stated.
Picture, left: Penn State’s Urban Dance Troupe
Q. When did the team start?
A. "The team began at the Altoona campus of Penn State and was brought to University Park in fall 2004 by five members of the Altoona team. UDT was officially recognized by Penn State-University Park in fall 2005."
Q. How would you define your style of dance?
A. "Our style can be summed up to hip-hop and urban dances. We create choreography that relates to the hottest styles of urban dance and music at the time—crump, pop and lock, reggae, etc."
Q. What big events do you perform at throughout the year? When are your upcoming performances?
A. "Performances we do throughout the year are: NAACP’s Apollo Night (we are currently champions), THON, Kwanza Celebration Dinner, Freedom Dinner by the NAACP, Vagina Monologues, "Cultural Conversations," NPHC Step Show, NAACP’s History Through the Arts, we won ARHS Cultural Talent Show.
We do a lot of events hosted by other organizations on campus that would like our team to perform for the entertainment portion of their events and intermission.
Upcoming events are the Step Show in April.
Picture, below: UDT Practicing Choreography
Q. How would others get involved? When are tryouts? What techniques have to be performed for them? Who should be contacted for questions?
A. “We hold tryouts every fall semester. Our process is that we advertise all over campus with flyers and have tables at the involvement fairs held around campus at the beginning of the fall semester. We have information sessions a few days prior to actual tryouts so that anyone interested can come learn more basic information about the team, about how you don’t need any real experience and what our rules and commitment requirements are. Tryouts are a three day process where days one and two are to let those interested come in and learn the piece of choreography that they would need to perform in front of the exec board on day three. We also incorporate a “free style” time so they can show us any other dance skills and talents they may have, as well as show us any pieces of choreography that they have personally made. "We go for quality, not quantity. Only three or four freshman made the team last year," said Chelsie White. "Everybody looks really good together."
FLY's Q&A with Whiplash
By Nicole Benner, Photos: Nicole Benner
May 2008
*All quotes are from Katelin Feely, president of Whiplash, unless otherwise stated.
Q. When did the team start?
A. "On November 18, 2000, five PSU students performed in a talent show at the Dance Academy in State College, PA. After winning second place in the talent show, they decided to stick together and formed what was known as Creative Entertainment. The original group included all genres of the arts, eventually wanted to become a Penn State organization and was granted provisional status. However, the company expanded and began to include too many diverse genres and performers. At this time, the name Creative Entertainment was dropped, and Whiplash took on a life of its own with 15-20 members."
Q. How would you define your style of dance?
A. "We encourage all types of dance styles, yet we mainly emphasize hip-hop. In our annual Spring Show we bring in many other types of dance such as jazz and modern."
"Hip-hop with a twist," said Alex Miller.
"Funky hip-hop, we could do our choreography at a party and not feel weird," said Jenna DeAngelis.
Q. What big events do you perform throughout the year? When are your upcoming performances?
A. "Our performances include Homecoming, THON, Breast Cancer Awareness shows, many multicultural shows at the HUB and around campus, and our culminating end of the year Spring Show. Our next big performance is our Spring Show on April 26 and 27, both at 11 a.m.. We will also be performing that Saturday at Late Night Penn State at 9 p.m.
Q. How could others get involved? When are tryouts? What techniques have to be performed for them? Who should be contacted for questions?
A. "Tryouts are held during the first few weeks of school in the fall. We get a booth at the Involvement Fair in the HUB before we have tryouts, so girls can come and ask questions about us. For tryouts, a short hip-hop routine is taught and then we break everyone into groups of four or five. They come in and perform the routine and a bit of free-style. We also ask to see turns/leaps during tryouts. We will never turn away talent and a great attitude while dancing is also what we are looking for. "
Q. What was it like coming onto the team for your first year?
A. "I felt very welcome. We have ‘bigs’ and ‘littles’ so we have someone that we know and can go to for help right away. We also start practicing with the team right away," said DeAngeles.
"We were never treated like newbies, just as members of the team," said Miller.
Whiplash team practices choreography.
Penn State’s Whiplash Team
A. "I felt very welcome. We have ‘bigs’ and ‘littles’ so we have someone that we know and can go to for help right away. We also start practicing with the team right away," said DeAngeles.
"We were never treated like newbies, just as members of the team," said Miller.
Q. Why do you think hip-hop dance/culture is becoming popular now?
A. "I think hip-hop has become very popular in the last couple of years because people have started to accept dance as a profession and because it’s very fun. It’s extremely entertaining and amazing to be a part of."
For questions, contact: Katelin Feely at [email protected] or Vice President Jessica Isnardi at [email protected].