A Common Step

Last week, on the front page of the Oregon State website, there was an article on my dance team! The article come out beautifully discussing all the different styles of dance OSU has to offer. It was written by the amazing Tayler Worrell, and I was featured in both the article and the YouTube video.

Here's a taste of the article, for the full article and video, click on the links above.

Elite Dance Team Captain Rachel Kelly arrives early to the studio to warm up and stretch, but the moment she clicks on the music and begins to move, a passion for dance shines through in her mirrored reflection. She floats elegantly across the floor. A few minutes later, her team is ready to practice. She leads them with as much passion as she has for dancing alone.
“It is a sport that requires endurance, flexibility, beauty and grace,” says Kelly. “Dancing is a way of communication for me.”
Kelly studies nutrition in the College of Public Health and Human Sciences and minors in Spanish. She started dancing at 14, and is now the captain of the Elite Dance Team at Oregon State. Kelly will soon graduate and plans to pursue dance outside of college.

“I took a modern dance [physical activity course] class when I was a freshman, and a bunch of people from that class tried out for the Elite Dance Team that year, but I didn’t think I was good enough,” Kelly says. “So I tried out my sophomore year, ended up making the team, and have done it ever since.”
Established in 2005, the Elite Dance Team practices technique and performance style in modern, hip-hop and jazz. Currently, the team has 30 members, both male and female, from Oregon State’s 12 undergraduate academic colleges. Beyond practicing twice a week and performing at several events per term, these dancers find ways to combine their studies with their extracurricular activities. 

At the beginning of the year nutrition majors partnered with the Elite Dance Team to organize a flash mob promoting healthy eating, allowing Kelly to combine her passions for dance and nutrition.
“We worked with Be Well and the Elite Dance Team to create a campaign to eat more fruits and vegetables.” Kelly says. “We handed out bananas and carrots to all the people that were watching us. It was a great way to integrate both nutrition and dance.”