If you’ve ever been to a Gannon University football or basketball game and stuck around for halftime before sneaking off to get a pretzel, then you’ve seen Gannon’s amazing dance team.
From perfectly choreographed dancing to smiling faces and hair flips, the dance team has become a staple at home games for men’s and women’s basketball and football. The ladies brave the cold to give the audience a show even in the frigid Erie weather.
However, behind the leg kicks and curls are young women with a love for Gannon and the surrounding community. With that in mind, the team has something special planned for Saturday’s women’s basketball game.
For the first time in program history, Gannon’s dance team will put on a youth dance clinic and those who attend will have the opportunity to dance with the team during the halftime show of the game as the Knights take on Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
The clinic will begin promptly at 8:30 a.m. Saturday and participants will have three hours to learn some moves and have a good time. At 11:30 a.m. the clinic will end and the team will start preparing for the game with the kids.
The game starts at 1 p.m., giving them the perfect amount of time to finalize their steps and get ready for their curtain call.
Lexy Stamler, the team’s senior choreography captain, is looking forward to working with the kids and being a part of such a special event.
“We already have over 20 kids signed up,” Stamler said. “Our whole team is involved in the event and we are very excited to meet and dance with all of the participants.”
Senior Michen Dugan, the team’s president and co-captain, has been wanting to do something like this since her first year at Gannon and is excited to see it come to being in her senior season.
“I suggested the idea of doing a dance camp that allows us, the dance team, to share our love of dance with those who are younger than us as well as providing an opportunity to show what Gannon has to offer to those that love dance,” Dugan said.
Dugan said she and the team love giving back to the both the Erie community and Gannon, and the clinic is accomplishing both.
“The Gannon University Dance Team has allowed me to become an active participant in the Gannon community as well as the Erie community and for that I am very thankful for the opportunities I have been given, the friendships I have made, and the memories that will last forever,” Dugan said.
On top of performing at halftime, each of the 20 participants will be given a free T-shirt and one free adult admission to the game. This makes it possible for a parent to watch his or her child have a great time and enjoy seeing what that child can do.
While Stamler and Dugan are only two of the members of the team, their excitement speaks for the rest of the squad. The team is looking forward to the change in routine and also to working with the children on the dance floor.

BRANDON JACES
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