From Adam Shelton:

The USU Ballroom Dance Company is looking forward to continued growth throughout the next year.  Over the course of this year the college of arts at USU has been separated from the college of humanities and social sciences, and has acquired the music and theater departments.  The reorganized college is under the new dean Craig Jessop.  Dean Jessop has a love for the arts and has a vision of creating a dance department at the university to round out his college’s arts education.  When he was the director of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, he had the opportunity to perform with the BYU Ballroom Dance Company.  He was impressed with the power that music and dance can have together and plans to house the USU ballroom program within the college of arts.  The USU ballroom team has already had the opportunity to perform with the dean’s American Festival Choir.  With his support ballroom academic classes are being developed and some arts scholarships have been opened to us to bring in talent.

The USU Ballroom program is in need of talented dancers that are looking to continue to dance after high school.  I have scheduled the Ballroom at Timpview High School on May 15 between 9-11am to hold tryouts for team positions.  Registration will begin at 8 am. Dancers should come prepared with:

•  A syllabus Cha-Cha and Waltz (American or international)
• A copy of their most current GPA and ACT score
• A photo or head shot of themselves
• Come dressed to impress but no costumes
• Their own partner

Registration for tryouts will start at 8am and the floor will be open before tryouts to warm up.  These tryouts are primarily for placement on our top competitive and touring teams. We have some scholarship money for next year but plan only to use it if we spot a truly exceptional student.  At the tryout I will be prepared to answer student questions about USU and any questions they have about the team.  We look forward to seeing you.