New All-Female Hip-Hop Dance Team makes debut at night rally
GLOW IN THE DANCE: In their team debut, All Female performed at The Homecoming Showcase Night Rally on Oct. 10. “I don’t care if you can dance [or] if you have taken a class one time, anybody can dance,” senior Faith McGrath said. “If you can get up and more your body if you can move anything at all you can dance.”
With their official debut at the Homecoming Showcase Night Rally on Oct. 10, the new All-Female Hip Hop Dance Team took this opportunity to showcase what they have begun working on this year.
After an increase in female students showed interest in being a part of the dance team, but only wanting to perform hip hop, Dance Team Director Kristina Marquez decided to form a new conservatory to further add options to the dance program.
“…our all female hip hop [would] lay the foundation for an urban dance track eventually,” Marquez said.
According to Marquez, the expansion of the team lets the dancers divide and conquer as far as performing goes but still allows them to take the time to properly train. She also said the addition of a new team allows everyone the opportunity to shine in the style that they’re most comfortable with.
All-Female Hip Hop Captain Senior Faith McGrath has set out to help market the new team by showing her students realize that anyone can dance.
“I’m all about advocacy for everything and diversity,” said McGrath, who has radial dysplasia. “…people with prosthetic legs dance and people in wheelchairs dance, people with no arms [can dance] and I can dance…I think anybody can have the ability to dance.”
Considering all the changes their director has implemented in her past three years working at the school, All-Male Hip-Hop Captain, senior Dante Carasin, was not surprised when Marquez introduced the new group.
“Our [dance team last year] competed as all All-Female in competitions so it was no surprise that it branched off into its own team…it was bound to happen sooner or later,” Carasin said.
The new addition brings the dance program’s number of competitive teams up to four. The Gray Team performs jazz funk, lyrical, and contemporary pieces\;the Red Team incorporates ballet along with lyrical, and contemporary; finally, All-Male Hip Hop and All-Female Hip Hop cover the urban spectrum.
By teaching techniques such as strength in movement, Marquez works with students as they challenge gender stereotypes in the way they perform. As the boys learn to soften their movements, they will display how dancing can still be masculine in a different style. This goes for the girls as well, they will learn how more hard hitting movements can still be feminine.
Marquez believes that by having her students learn this variety they can better embody and properly convey human emotion so their audience can connect.
“I always tell the team members, how that’s their duty and that it’s their job,” Marquez said. “And it is such a blessing that they get to do that, to allow other people to feel things that maybe they haven’t touched on in a while.”
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David Bailey • Jan 30, 2020 at 12:50 pm
I think it’s great that there has been an increase in the amount of female dancers within the Mater Dei community. With this occurring I believe many more females will be persuaded o join such a great group. Them being able to create their own hip pop dance team and compete in competitions seems like a great way to step out of their comfort zone. Hopefully it will be a sign to others to never be afraid to try anything new.
David Bailey • Jan 30, 2020 at 10:59 am
Good article
Alaina Sanbrano • Jan 29, 2020 at 8:06 pm
I really like the fact that we have a All-Female Hip Hop dance team. It gives dancers the ability to perform the style of dance that they love and provide diversity to the dance program. This article was very well written and showed the reader all of the reasons why All-Female benefits Mater Dei dancers.
Sophie Bartlett • Jan 28, 2020 at 9:24 pm
As a member of the Mater Dei Dance Team, this article very much embodies the way the team is structured. It’s very informative to someone who may not know much about the schools dance team and how hard working the dancers truly are.
Ruby • Jan 28, 2020 at 2:56 pm
I think it’s great that they added an all female hip hop dance team. With this new team more students will be able to dance and focus on hip hop. I think more people will be interested in joining because hip hop is a very popular dance style that people will want to learn.