"Practice Makes Permanent"

Members of Full Circle at rehearsal.

They practice a lot.

Full Circle rehearses over three hours every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

Vilociti and My Bad practice three hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

All three Utah State University dance teams meet together on Wednesdays at the Kent Concert Hall, with rehearsals sometimes spanning six hours or more.

All that for just three performances this semester.

“I practice way more with Full Circle, but we hardly ever perform,” said Julia Williams, who is also a USU Aggiette.

Despite significantly more practices with Full Circle, the Aggiettes regularly perform at sporting events and school-sponsored activities.

“I’m constantly doing things with the Aggiettes at pep-rallies, halftimes and tailgates,” Williams said.

That might explain the resentment for USU’s more established dance team among members of the three more recent, and often more edgy squads.

“In total, I’m doing over 15 hours a week,” said Jamie Smith, a senior member of the Full Circle and Vilociti teams.

Smith, like many others, said that she is not a member solely to perform. She remains a member of the teams to grow and excel as a dancer.

“The best part is being able to dance,” Williams said. “At practice I am around amazing dancers that inspire me and a great coach that pushes us to be better.”

For Alexis Childs, a member of both the Full Circle and Vilociti teams, practice is an escape and a chance to eliminate stress.

“When I get here, everything else goes away,” she said. “I have so much crap that goes on outside of dance – this is my place where I forget about everything. It’s safe because of my coach and because of the team.”

Because Childs is a member of multiple teams, she has been able to contrast experiences from the differing practices.

“The pieces that we do for Full Circle are more emotional. We talk a lot more during practice and discuss the themes of the pieces to get us in the right mindset,” she said. “Vilociti is more of a relaxed environment.”

Practices for each team differ as a result of each dance genre.

The contemporary team, Full Circle, focuses on intense conditioning and core work  along with ballet. The hip-hop team continually highlights the importance of synchronization and hard-hitting choreography, and members of the break-dancing team work to improve fluidity and strength.

While details vary depending on the team, each practice maintains a similar format.

After running multiple laps on campus and up and down the Old Main stairs, team members return to rehearsal spaces for additional conditioning exercises.

“We condition forever, but I always feel good after,” said Misako Osterloh, a freshmen member of the Vilociti team. “It’s not easy, but the people you are with make it more enjoyable than painful.”

Following numerous aerobic exercises, members take time to stretch before learning and reviewing routines.

“The main focus of practice is usually whatever event is coming up next,” said Vilociti team captain, Natalie Miller. “We first learn the choreography, drill it into our heads over and over again, then go through step by step and clean the whole thing making sure we are all doing the same move at the exact same time.”

Occasionally, entire practices are dedicated to a single piece of choreography. The dancers are instructed to repeat routines until the dance coordinator, Krissy Smith-Fry, is satisfied with their progress.

“Sometimes repetition gets tiring, but practice makes permanent,” Childs said.

(k. heywood)