On Monday and Wednesday evenings, the Dynamic Motion Dance Team (DMDT) practices for several hours on the 12th floor lounge in Kennedy Hall, a dormitory within the Southwest residential area. The two captains, Karyn Wagner and Anna Masiero, are in charge of these weekly meetings.
Before the practice, the whole team laughs and socializes, and showing this group is not just a club on campus- they’re a “sisterhood” as Masiero puts it.
DMDT currently consists of eight girls. In addition to the two captains, the team is presently made up of Karyssa Youngs, Amanda Eagan, Kayla Scott, Rachel Cerbone, Andrea Afrikian, and Sharon Thomas.
The dance team is student-run club at the University of Massachusetts, although it is not formally recognized by the school. At the beginning of each semester the team puts up fliers and holds auditions for new dancers to join the team.
The team’s main styles of dance are jazz and hip-hop, however people with a background in any department of dance are encouraged to audition.
“You don’t have to be specialized in one thing. You can have all genres as your background or just ballet, we can try to work you in,” said Masiero.
Everyone is encouraged to collaborate on the choreography and song decisions enforcing the team model. While the team is made up of women this semester, any male dancers are welcome to tryout in future auditions as well.
This year marks DMDT’s 10th anniversary as a group on the UMass campus. According to Wagner, on April 27 the team will be hosting a reunion in the lounge of Kennedy Hall. This reunion will allow the team’s alumni to dance and socialize with the current members.
Despite not being an official RSO on campus, the team has performed at UMass and community events. DMDT appearances include halftime shows at UMass basketball games, UMass Best Dance Crew and UDance. This past Sunday, April 7, the team performed in front of a large crowd for the Autism Speaks U 5k event in Amherst Center. The team has also performed at a number of events including UMass Best Dance Crew, Sisters on the Runway, Drop Beats not Bombs and a some basketball games.
“I think it’s just a fun and low stress way to keep people dancing. People come out of high school, and they’ve been dancing all their lives, then come to UMass and might not make the UMass Dance Team, so its just a fun group to keep dancing,” said Wagner. She tried out for the UMass Dance Team, but only made it as far as callbacks her first time auditioning. She is happy to have found DMDT, which is so much less competitive and stressful than some other organizations on campus.
“I hope it gets more known,” said Masiero. “Its kind of like an underground team.”
The team’s next performances will be at Relay for Life on April 19 at Amherst College and on April 21 the UMass Stage Crew Dance Team second annual Spring Showcase.
Kayla Marchetti can be reached at [email protected].
