Introducing your 2019-2020 Adelphi Dance Team!

Did you miss auditions? Contact Coach Marissa Speciale for upcoming fall audition dates.

The 2018-2019 Adelphi Dance Team had fun at their last team bonding event: The Black and Gold Games! Which team do you think won?!

This year, Adelphi’s Dance Team will be attending UDA Camp for the second year in a row.

The Universal Dance Association, (UDA) provides high quality educational training for college and high school dancers through summer camps and clinics on college campuses.

The purpose of attending camp is to learn new routines for your team to perform at sporting events throughout the season as well as learn chants to enhance game day spirit. Not only is camp a great experience to learn new things but it also allows for dancers to bond with their team and with dance teams from other colleges and universities.

Last year, the Adelphi Dance Team attended a three day UDA camp at the University of Scranton. The team was awarded first place for the Home Routine they performed and won other awards including the Superior Award and the Collegiate Recognition award!

This year, the team plans to attend a three day camp in the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

To attend camp this year, the team has to partake in a lot of fundraisers in order to cover the costs. To participate in UDA camp, the team has to pay a fee for each dancer to attend as well as fees for transportation and for choreography.

In the past, the Adelphi Dance Team raised funds in the following ways:

• Bake Sales
• Participating Restaurants
• Fitness Classes
• Car Washes

“Car washes tend to be the most successful of our fundraisers because they not only bring in family, friends, and acquaintances but they bring in people from the community as well.”

Alexa Munoz, rising senior on the Adelphi Dance Team

This summer the Adelphi Dance Team is planning to set up several fundraisers. The following fundraisers have already been scheduled:

• Zumba – The team will be coordinating a zumba class on Saturday, June 1st that will cost $5 per attendee.
• Car Wash– on Saturday, June 8th, Adelphi will be hosting its first car wash of the season at Applebee’s in New Hyde Park.

Stay tuned or visit our Instagram for updates and future fundraisers.

If you have any fundraising ideas to help the Adelphi Dance Team or would like to help fund the team go to camp contact Coach Marissa Speciale!

As the year comes to an end, we’d like to honor seniors Summer, Gabriella, and Colleen for their 4 years of hard work and dedication to the Adelphi Dance Team!

Coach Marissa Speciale has been head coach of Adelphi’s Dance Team since 2017. She will be starting her third season as Coach this year in June 2019.

Growing up, Marissa attended Lopresti Dance Theatre in Nesconset. She trained there for 8 years studying all styles of dance. In 2009, she began training at Long Island Academy of Dance in Lake Grove. She trained there for 4 years.

Marissa is a graduate of Hofstra University and received her B.A. in STEM and Early Childhood and Childhood Education. During her time at Hofstra, Marissa was a 4-year member and captain of Hofstra’s nationally ranked Dance Team.

Throughout her college years, Marissa gained professional dance experience with the New York Cosmos. She danced professionally for the Cosmos for 4 years from 2013-2017.

She also worked as a Universal Dance Association (UDA) Instructor for 2 years during her college years. At UDA, Marissa was able to assist in training college and high school dancers.

Throughout her college years, Marissa has gained the following performance experience:

• US National Dance Team 2016
• Fox at 5, Fox and Friends, CNN, MSNBC Performances, and 1010 Wins Interview for Presidential Debate 2016
• Superbowl XLVII Warm Up Crew 2015
• Good Morning America Performance 2014

In addition to coaching Adelphi’s Dance Team, Marissa is currently pursing her Master’s Degree from Adelphi in Special Education. She is also presently a Varsity Cheerleading Coach at Half Hollow Hills High School East. You also may see Marissa judging dance competitions, choreographing for high school dance teams, or offering master classes.

Check out our podcast interview with Marissa Speciale!

In her interview Marissa discusses her passion for dance, how she began her coaching career at Adelphi University, and advice for fellow dancers.

Collegiate level dance teams are all about synchronicity and technique. A big part of technique includes hip hop tricks. Hip hop tricks can be used to create visuals within a routine or used to enhance the quality of a routine.

There are many hip hop tricks that can be incorporated into a routine. These tricks can be partner tricks or solo tricks. Some of the more common solo tricks include kip ups, headsprings, and aerials. All of these tricks require strength, focus, and determination. It’s almost impossible to get a trick on your first try, but practice makes perfect.

Today, rising Adelphi senior and Dance Team member Briana Barczik will be giving us tips and demonstrating how to do some of these solo hip hop tricks.

Kip Ups

Kip ups require strength in both your arms and your core. To do a kip up, start standing up with your feet apart. Then, roll back onto the floor and hitting a “pike position.” Your arms are shoulder width apart and bent behind you.

From there, you must hit a “squish” position. This is what gives you momentum before you kick your legs to stand back up. Arch your back while pushing off your arms throwing them forward to pick your chest up.

The key to a kip up is bringing your chest up immediately after throwing your legs forward. By bringing your chest up and using your arms, you will be able to land in a standing position.

“Be sure to use your core strength when doing a kip up. Once you have a kip up, you can take it a step further with a no-handed kip up!”

Briana Barczik, rising senior on the Adelphi Dance Team

Headsprings

Before whipping out a headspring, you must first get comfortable with being on your head. You can start by balancing in a “bug position.” Do this by making a triangle with your hands and have your head at the point. Balancing on your head requires a lot of strength in both your arms and your core so be sure to squeeze your muscles!

After you have mastered this position, you can then try to hit an “upside down pike position.” In this position, your hands and head are in the same triangle on the floor and your body is making an “L” shape.

Once you have this position, you’re ready to do a headspring. Start with your feet apart and your knees bent. Place your hands and head in the triangle mentioned earlier and hit a pike position. From there, use your arms and your momentum to spring you forward. For safety purposes, be sure to land your headspring with bent knees.

It is important that when you’re flipping over you keep your legs and feet together. This allows you to properly land your headspring and it is also makes the trick more appealing to the eye.

“One of the most important parts of doing a headspring is making sure your arms and head are in the proper position. If you do not have the proper placement, you won’t be able to do the headspring.”

Briana Barczik, rising senior on the Adelphi Dance Team

Aerials

Aerials are basically cartwheels with no hands. In order to not put your hands on the ground, your legs must have speed, power, and momentum. It is also important that your chest comes up fast as soon as your first foot lands. This will help with momentum and will prevent you from putting your hands on the floor.

When learning an aerial, dancers tend to run into it to help them gain momentum. Advanced dancers can do aerials out of turns by simply stepping into it.

To make an aerial look good, dancers must have straight legs and pointed toes.

“The biggest mental block is putting your hands down; just go for it! Tell yourself you can do it because it’s just a mental game.”

Briana Barczik, rising senior on the Adelphi Dance Team

Once all of these solo hip hop tricks are mastered, they can then become partner tricks with a partner’s assistance. One example of a partner trick is having one dancer do a headspring off of another dancer.

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We had an awesome time meeting all of the prospective panthers yesterday at Accepted Students Day!

Today, the Adelphi Dance Team hosted their spring audition for the 2019-2020 season! Both incoming freshmen and current Adelphi students came to the Woodruff Hall Half Court for the three-part audition. In total, 8 dancers attended auditions including team members from the 2018-2019 season.

Even though I was on the team last year, this experience is still a bit intimidating…it’s a clean slate each year so we all have to bring our A game.”

Krista, rising sophomore on the Adelphi Dance Team

The judges panel included Michelle Scirica, Kristen Bradle, Jade Chu, Danielle Borgachunas, and head coach Marissa Speciale.

Each auditionee was required to fill out paperwork which included their strengths and weaknesses as dancers. In return, they received a number in which the judges can identify them by.

Similar to the Audition Prep Clinic, the first two parts of auditions consisted of technique and choreography. The third part of auditions emphasizes the dancers’ school spirit.

Dancers were critiqued on their technical skills including:

• pirouettes
• tilts
• switch leaps
• turning disc
• a la seconde turns
• special tricks (aerials, kip ups, headsprings)

Dancers learned a jazz routine choreographed by Kristen Bradle to the song “BURNITUP” by Janet Jackson. This piece allowed for dancers to show off their technical skills and their unique style all in one.

The third and final part of the auditions can arguably be considered the most important: school spirit. At this point, dancers are taught to how to cheer on Adelphi’s sports team using phrases such as “Let’s Go Adelphi!” or “Let’s Go Panthers!”

After a long day, we are finally able to congratulate our 2019-2020 Adelphi University Dance Team:

• Alexa
• Amanda
• Angelie
• Briana
• Krista
• Rachel
• Taylor

“I was very proud to see all the hard work and effort each dancer gave. I can’t wait to begin another great season.”

Marissa Speciale, Coach of Adelphi Dance Team

If you missed our spring audition and are interested in joining the Adelphi Dance Team this season, stay tuned! We will be hosting “Team Selection Day” on Sunday, May 5th.