The St. Edward’s University Dance Team organized and danced in a showcase to both establish a new tradition at St. Edward’s and to promote the team in the St. Edward’s community.

The showcase was held in the Recreation and Convocation Center on April 15. The dance showcase, entitled “Dance: It’s All I Wanna Do,” was the first event of its kind ever hosted by the Dance Team.

Completely student run, the showcase featured routines performed by the Dance Team. Team captains Taylor Eades and Meg Seeger performed solos, and team members Becky Escher and Caroline Dickens performed a duo tap routine. Students from dance classes at St. Edward’s were invited to participate, and dancers in Professor Jo Ann Schatz’s Intermediate Tap class performed a tap routine at the showcase.

In addition, three St. Edward’s cheerleaders performed two stunt routines, and junior Matt Frazier and sophomore Mitch Harris performed two comedy routines to give the dancers time to change outfits. These comedy routines focused on teaching the audience how to win a dance battle.

Jazz, tap, novelty and lyrical routines filled the showcase.

All of the dance routines were choreographed by the Dance Team members, with the exception of the routine performed by the tap class.

The team members also selected the songs to be featured in the showcase, and the resulting list included titles “Show Me How You Burlesque” from the film “Burlesque” and “Goodbye My Lover,” by James Blunt.

The showcase was a long time in the making. Throughout the year, the Dance Team has had its share of struggles.

“It’s been an influx and reflux of members that we’ve had on the team. We [have] had as many [as] 15 girls to just seven tonight, so it’s been tough,” said the Dance Team’s adviser, Anne Mary Carney. “What we had here was a solid, committed group. It hasn’t been an easy process.”

The team had been working on this showcase since it was proposed as an idea at the end of the last school year.

“The team is in a developmental stage. We’re still deciding on what we want to be,” Eades said. “In previous years, we could not have done this.”

As one of the goals for next year, the team hopes to make the showcase an annual event. The team also plans to have another showcase in the fall to further establish the team’s presence in the St. Edward’s community.

“Most people don’t even know we have a dance team, so we want to establish our role here,” Eades said.

At least 75 friends and family attended the showcase in support of the dance team and other performers.

“This is an evolution that isn’t finished. Hopefully this can lay a foundation and tradition at St. Edward’s,” Carney said.

The St. Edward’s Dance team performs during a variety of on-campus events throughout the year, including men’s and women’s basketball games, the Midnight Madness basketball kick-off event, and the Homecoming pep rally.