WVU Dance Team in Place for 2015-2016 Season; Five of 21 Members from Bridgeport High School
By Julie Perine on May 11, 2015 via Connect-Bridgeport.com
Over the weekend, West Virginia University held auditions for the 2015-2016 Dance Team. Once again, Bridgeport High School is well represented on the team, which dazzles Mountaineer basketball and baseball fans with choreographed jazz, hip-hop and pom routines.
Returning to the team are Kallie Nealis, Chiara Pulice and Danielle Walden, all members of the 2013 class of BHS, where they were active in dance and theater. New to the squad are 2012 BHS graduate Lauren Trupo and current BHS senior, Kylie Frame.
Frame began dancing at a young age, taking ballet and tap at local studios, including Annabel Timms School of Ballet. She went on to take hip-hop and jazz classes. She currently takes ballet, contemporary, hip hop and jazz classes. She has been part of a school dance line since her sixth grade year at Bridgeport Middle School. At BHS, she’s also a member of the BHS Dance Ensemble. Being a member of the WVU Dance Team was the next step in her dance quest.
“I wanted to be on the team because I have always loved to dance and I wanted to continue doing it in college,” she said. “It is going to be so much fun and I am really looking forward to it! Also I get to be on a team again with some of my really good friends I went to school with and have previously danced with.”
An upcoming senior at WVU, Trupo said she was inspired to be part of the WVU Dance Team while performing with the WVU Hip Hop Team last season.
“We only did like three performances and one of the last ones was at a men’s basketball game against Kansas State,” she said. “I loved it so much and during that little bit of time I was out there, I knew right then this was something I wanted to be part of.”
Trupo majors in speech pathology with a double minor in dance and disabilities. She is a three-year member and historian of the WVU Student Dance Association and will continue performing with the group in 2015-2016. Growing up in Bridgeport, she took dance lessons at Rebecca’s Dance Studio, Annabel Timms School of Ballet and Momentum Dance Center. She was a member of the BMS Dance Line, a one-year member of the BHS Dance Line and a member of the BHS Dance Ensemble, for which she continues to provide choreography.
The West Virginia Dance Team works with the WVU Cheerleaders to enthuse and involve fans at all men's and women's basketball home games. The girls also dance at WVU baseball games and make various campus appearances. The team competes at the National Dance Alliance Collegiate Dance Championships in Daytona, Fla.
The team has 21 members this year, said Coach Alex Casola.
“I think it’s going to be a very strong team. Most of the girls are veterans, returning to the team from last year. We do have a few new girls and they blend in very well,” she said. “They’re all very technically strong and I believe we will do very well at nationals. The goal is to place higher than last year and the girls are all in the right mindset to do so and to work hard. I think we’ll have a great year. We have a lot of great personalities.”
Team members will spend some time this summer preparing for NDA dance camp, which is held in late-July.
“If we do well at camp and get a gold bid, we’ll have a full ride to nationals,” Casola said.
That’s important, she said, because the team’s activities are not funded through the school athletic program.
“That makes our team very unique because we have to try really hard to get anywhere,” she said. “We do a lot of fundraising.”
Casola just assumed the coaching position last week. She replaces Jessica Bailey. Just Sunday, Casola graduated from Ohio State University, where she was a member of the dance team for a year before she shifted her focus to academics and internships. She graduated from Ohio State with a degree in communications. Being a collegiate dance coach is another ambition of hers, she said.
“Since I was a kid, I’ve wanted to have my own team and work them toward success,” she said.
Keep up to date with the WVU Dance Team by liking the team’s Facebook page and/or following @WVUDANCETEAM on Instagram and @WVUDANCE on Twitter.
Editor's Note: Pictured is the WVU Dance Team. To read last year's story on the WVU Dance Team and learn more about Nealis, Pulice and Walden, click HERE.
