The University of Toronto dance team recently finished its competition season and it’s one for the memory books. The team won all three competitions for the season, a first for U of T and possibly any other university, according to Selina Tong, one of the team’s captains.
“This is the first time UofT has ever won a competition and to my knowledge, no team has ever won all three in a row,” says Tong, a fourth-year student of industrial engineering, who started dancing when she was five and competing when she was 11 years old.
“So, it’s been a historical moment not only for our team but also in the history of university dance competition in Canada.”
The team competed in the following events: Strive, Terpsichore University Dance Challenge and Be U (Be Dance) Varsity Challenge, facing off with 28 dance teams from other Canadian universities.
Members of the U of T’s dance team include many former competitive dancers, like Tong, who are happy to pursue their passion during their post-secondary studies. With 45 members on the team this year, this is the largest the team has ever been.
“For myself and many girls on the team the dance team has been a critical part of our university experience,” says Tong. “Not only has it given us an opportunity to continue pursuing our passion, but it’s also connected us to each other and created an incredibly supportive network that enables us to strengthen our individual creative and leadership skills.
“Placing first in the competitions was icing on the cake. It truly meant the world to us.”
The dancers compete in different genres of dance, including contemporary, lyrical, ballet, open, jazz, tap and hip-hop. All the choreography is done in-house and the team selects their choreographers based on applications submitted in the fall.
While most members come from a traditional competitive dance background, some also have company experience and professional training, and some are self-taught. The majority of this year’s team are undergraduate dancers, with one master’s student.
Auditions for U of T’s dance team are held every September in the Goldring Centre gym.
Helping Tong steer the team are co-captain Lauren Cruz, a fourth year student of molecular genetics and physiology, and a competitive dancer since the age of 11, and assistant captain Sara DaSilva, a second year student of immunology and neuroscience, with a minor in physiology, and a competitive dancer from the age of 8.
You can catch the team’s final performance The Encore at Hart House Theatre on April 29th.