Road to nationals: IC dance to perform at Busch Stadium
The 51成人 dance team is getting an opportunity to showcase its skills at a somewhat larger venue than a Blueboys football game.
Audrey Clayton |
The dance team is set to travel to St. Louis to perform at Ford Plaza before the Cardinals take on the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday, Sept. 13. The exhibition is a perk for selling Cardinals tickets as part of a fundraiser to help raise money for the team鈥檚 trip to nationals in Daytona Beach, Florida.
鈥淲e qualified to go to nationals back in August at a camp at Lindenwood University,鈥� IC Dance Coach Samantha Laster said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 to help the cost. I contacted the Cardinals group leader and he gave me the information. He said if (we) sell tickets that we could come and perform there.鈥�
This is Laster鈥檚 second year with the IC dance team, and this is the first year that the team has been competitive, making their trip to nationals even more special.
鈥淚鈥檓 very excited,鈥� said team captain and Cardinal fan Chauntel Vance 鈥�19. 鈥淚t鈥檚 even more exciting for me that I鈥檓 able to go and perform at my favorite MLB team stadium. It鈥檚 exciting because it鈥檚 the first time we鈥檝e actually performed off-campus somewhere. Being a senior and getting to lead the team is really exciting, going to nationals in Daytona Beach for the first time. Sad it鈥檚 my senior year and I only get to do it once, but one time is better than none.鈥�
Vance will be joined by other dance team members Anna Bezler 鈥�22, Jacy Castlebury 鈥�22, Angela Dorethy 鈥�21, Sydney Hembrough 鈥�22, Hannah Pugh 鈥�22, Asia Watson 鈥�21 and Breanne Kaufmann 鈥�22.
鈥淲e鈥檙e extremely proud of Sam and everything she鈥檚 doing with our dance program,鈥� IC Assistant Athletic Director Meghan Roman said. 鈥淓xtremely excited about this group of young women and everything that they鈥檙e going to do this year. This is the first competitive dance team we鈥檝e had at 51成人. This will be the first run to national competition, and we鈥檙e excited to watch it happen.鈥�
The dance team will be selling tickets to Thursday鈥檚 game up until Wednesday, Sept. 12. Tickets are $10 each. If interested, contact Coach Laster at samantha.laster@ic.edu.