For the past few years Bucks students have been witness to some great basketball, but they have also been privy to something just as special during halftime – the Bucks Dance Squad.

In its fourth year of existence, the squad is doing what it was designed to do, which is support Bucks athletics.

“The Dance Squad is a very spirit-oriented group,” Dance Squad President Jessica Fletcher said. “Our main job is to support Bucks and the best way we can do that is through the sports. Every member who has joined the squad has joined because of this reason.”

The sultry and seductive performances of the Dance Squad almost came to end following the summer.

“We had talked to [Director of Student Life] Matt Cipriano during the summer (when we weren’t sure if the squad was going to be back this year) and he informed us that the president of the school, along with other members of the school board, love watching us dance at halftimes,” Fletcher said. “[That] was the reason we really tried to keep the squad around this year and keep it going.”

Once the decision was made to keep the Dance Squad going at full-steam, the audition process began. These tryouts consisted of four days.

The first two were clinics. This included meeting the girls who wished to tryout and giving them all the information they need on the squad. The squad also showed them some of their dances.

The next part of the clinics was called “across the floor,” where potential dancers followed one of the existing members, trying to copy whatever they did.

The following week, the real tryout began. The squad called in two girls at a time. The girls had to show them the dance they were taught during clinics, a dance of their own and what they had learned from “across the floor.”

“They were graded on a scale from 1 to 10,” Fletcher said. “[We gave] comments posted below their score about what we thought their strong points and weaknesses were.”

Fletcher believes they will have more committed dancers this year. The girls are now required to put in at least four hours of practice each week, as well as attending scheduled practices on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Last year, the squad performed about a five minute dance to a mix of NSync songs. They also created a crowd favorite, dancing to Christina Aguilera’s “Dirty.” This year they hope to expand the halftime show.

“We really would like to turn our halftime dance into a halftime show,” Fletcher said. “That would involve having things like a raffle, doing cheerleading stunts, and things that the crowd can get into.”

Donna Greenfield (a dance teacher at Bucks and the group’s advisor) is helping by choreographing dances.

“We are also working on a ‘through the times’ dance,” Fletcher said. “It’s music from the 70s, 80s, 90s, and today.”

The Dance Squad is trying to do more to get more Bucks students coming to games.

“I really liked the idea of doing a calendar. However, I don’t think we will be selling them, only handing them out at our bake sales or other fundraisers,” Fletcher said. “Last year, we tossed around ideas about having raffles for local stores with gift certificates or things like that.”

The biggest thing for the Dance Squad is just getting people to come out and watch the games. They are also considering dancing at baseball and soccer games to help bring more fans.

Check in the Centurion Sports section every week leading up to the start of the basketball season for profiles of each Dance Squad dancer (including pictures)!