Got a question? Chances are you're not alone!
Q: What styles of dance do the Spartan ShowStoppers do?
A: We welcome all styles that our members would be interested in learning, but we mainly focus on jazz, lyrical, contemporary, musical theater, and tap. In the past we have also done ballet, Latin, hip hop, and pom. Check out our showcase pictures under the showcase tab!
Q: Do I have to be a tap dancer to join?
A: NOPE! In fact, typically half of our dancers never even put on tap shoes. Therefore, not being a tap dancer in no way harms your odds of becoming a Showstopper. In our Spring Showcase we typically have 1-3 tap numbers but only about half of our dancers are in them! It's simply another form of dance for our members to choose from.
Q: What's a typical practice like?
A: We meet twice a week for two hours each practice. We spend the first 15 minutes or so having an update meeting and/or doing bonding activities. After that, we warm-up together, go across the floor with leaps and turns, and conditioning. We spend the rest of practice learning choreography, using around four practices to learn a dance depending on how long the number is. We have monthly review days to go over past dances, clean choreography, and improve on technique.
Q: Do you do stuff together outside of practices?
A: YES! Some of our best memories have been made outside of practice. Our Social Activities Director is in charge of planning events for the team and we typically have 2-3 events per month. They can be as simple as going to get food after practice, have pizza parties, or as large as spending a weekend away! Every spring we have an overnight trip, in the past we've gone to Kalahari, Traverse City and Grand Rapids. Members are asked to attend at least one activity per semester.
Q: Your dancers do seem to get along really well. If I'm looking for a dance family in college, have I found the right place?
A: Our team was made with the intention of fostering that family feel we had from our dance studios growing up. So yes, this may be the team for you! We pair you up with a dance sister on your first practice, but we really all feel like sisters. There's always a snapchat to look at when you wake up or a group chat figuring out when to get lunch together. Also, this team provides it's dancers with friends of all ages which is very helpful for asking for advice about classes, campus, etc.
Q: Alright, I'm auditioning! What should I wear to my audition?
A: We encourage dancers to wear what they feel most comfortable dancing in. We've had students audition in bare feet, jazz shoes, lyrical turners, socks, etc. You do not need to wear a leotard and tights unless you want to! Following us on Social Media (Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, TikTok) is the best way to keep up with us! Follow us @spartanshowstoppers (@msushowstoppers on TikTok). You can read more about auditions here.
Q: Should I prepare something for my audition?
A: No, choreography will be taught to you at tryouts. You will however, be given two counts of eight to improvise and show us your best moves and tricks.
Q: What should I expect to do at the audition?
A: We will warm up and stretch together and then we will teach you two short pieces. One piece will be an upbeat jazz combo and the second piece will be a more emotional contemporary or lyrical piece. If you are interested in knowing what kind of skills we will be asking you to do, please email us or look at our audition post for the upcoming season on Instagram and Facebook. Also feel free to reach out to us on Social Media, @spartanshowstoppers, that is the quickest way to contact us. An Executive Board member will most likely get back to you within a couple hours.
Q: What's your policy on choreographing?
A: Our Executive Board choreographs the team dances that we learn during practice. Also, anyone on the team has the opportunity to choreograph an independent dance for our showcase outside of practice. These include solos, duets, trios, and small group routines.
Q: What do you do after your showcase?
A: We still meet to dance, although practices become optional the spring showcase. Usually, we have some fun practices after the spring showcase including bring a friend to class, yoga, learning a short combo, paper plate awards, goodbye meal with our seniors, etc.
Got any other questions?
Feel free to contact us through our social media pages @spartanshowstoppers or through our email, spartan showstoppers@gmail.com.
A: We welcome all styles that our members would be interested in learning, but we mainly focus on jazz, lyrical, contemporary, musical theater, and tap. In the past we have also done ballet, Latin, hip hop, and pom. Check out our showcase pictures under the showcase tab!
Q: Do I have to be a tap dancer to join?
A: NOPE! In fact, typically half of our dancers never even put on tap shoes. Therefore, not being a tap dancer in no way harms your odds of becoming a Showstopper. In our Spring Showcase we typically have 1-3 tap numbers but only about half of our dancers are in them! It's simply another form of dance for our members to choose from.
Q: What's a typical practice like?
A: We meet twice a week for two hours each practice. We spend the first 15 minutes or so having an update meeting and/or doing bonding activities. After that, we warm-up together, go across the floor with leaps and turns, and conditioning. We spend the rest of practice learning choreography, using around four practices to learn a dance depending on how long the number is. We have monthly review days to go over past dances, clean choreography, and improve on technique.
Q: Do you do stuff together outside of practices?
A: YES! Some of our best memories have been made outside of practice. Our Social Activities Director is in charge of planning events for the team and we typically have 2-3 events per month. They can be as simple as going to get food after practice, have pizza parties, or as large as spending a weekend away! Every spring we have an overnight trip, in the past we've gone to Kalahari, Traverse City and Grand Rapids. Members are asked to attend at least one activity per semester.
Q: Your dancers do seem to get along really well. If I'm looking for a dance family in college, have I found the right place?
A: Our team was made with the intention of fostering that family feel we had from our dance studios growing up. So yes, this may be the team for you! We pair you up with a dance sister on your first practice, but we really all feel like sisters. There's always a snapchat to look at when you wake up or a group chat figuring out when to get lunch together. Also, this team provides it's dancers with friends of all ages which is very helpful for asking for advice about classes, campus, etc.
Q: Alright, I'm auditioning! What should I wear to my audition?
A: We encourage dancers to wear what they feel most comfortable dancing in. We've had students audition in bare feet, jazz shoes, lyrical turners, socks, etc. You do not need to wear a leotard and tights unless you want to! Following us on Social Media (Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, TikTok) is the best way to keep up with us! Follow us @spartanshowstoppers (@msushowstoppers on TikTok). You can read more about auditions here.
Q: Should I prepare something for my audition?
A: No, choreography will be taught to you at tryouts. You will however, be given two counts of eight to improvise and show us your best moves and tricks.
Q: What should I expect to do at the audition?
A: We will warm up and stretch together and then we will teach you two short pieces. One piece will be an upbeat jazz combo and the second piece will be a more emotional contemporary or lyrical piece. If you are interested in knowing what kind of skills we will be asking you to do, please email us or look at our audition post for the upcoming season on Instagram and Facebook. Also feel free to reach out to us on Social Media, @spartanshowstoppers, that is the quickest way to contact us. An Executive Board member will most likely get back to you within a couple hours.
Q: What's your policy on choreographing?
A: Our Executive Board choreographs the team dances that we learn during practice. Also, anyone on the team has the opportunity to choreograph an independent dance for our showcase outside of practice. These include solos, duets, trios, and small group routines.
Q: What do you do after your showcase?
A: We still meet to dance, although practices become optional the spring showcase. Usually, we have some fun practices after the spring showcase including bring a friend to class, yoga, learning a short combo, paper plate awards, goodbye meal with our seniors, etc.
Got any other questions?
Feel free to contact us through our social media pages @spartanshowstoppers or through our email, spartan showstoppers@gmail.com.