Prepare to put your hands together for the co-ed dance team performance this Saturday, Feb. 10, during the halftime shows of the women’s and men’s basketball games. 

Juniors Clare Veren, Adrianna Ruble and senior Megan Hall are choreographing the dance. Each dance team member has chosen a partner for this performance, and depending on who they pick, their partner might not have any dance experience.

“It’s fun for the partners to experience what it’s like being on the dance team,” Lindsay Kline, head coach of the Simpson College Dance Team, said in an email to The Simpsonian. “It takes a lot of practice to learn a routine and confidence to be able to perform it in front of a crowd of people, so it’s fun to see them experience a day in the life of a dancer.”

This year’s theme is being kept under wraps, with sneak peeks posted on the team’s Instagram stories. Ruble and Hall both believe the audience will like and relate to the theme.

“I think this year’s co-ed theme will really bring a lot of people to the game to watch,” Ruble said. “A lot of people normally leave during halftime, but I think once they hear the beginning song, everyone will go crazy because it’s something that a lot of people relate to, both older and younger.”

The dance team’s co-ed performance happens once a year, and Veren and Ruble have choreographed the last three years’ performances, with Hall joining them this year.

“It’s been really fun getting to choreograph it and thinking about who all of the partners are going to be and helping cater the choreography towards who’s going to be doing the routine and what kinds of things they’ll want to do and be comfortable doing,” Hall said.

Hall took a break from the dance team last year but was asked to be a partner for the co-ed dance performance, so she got to experience being on the partner side of things. 

“That was probably my favorite part, being in an outside perspective of it and getting to do the partner choreography instead of the dancer choreography. So, that was cool to experience last year,” Hall said.

The team and their partners practice twice before the performance and again before the basketball games.

“The partners always add a fun touch to the routines, and it’s usually something new and different that the crowd gets to see, so I think they enjoy every aspect of it,” Kline said in an email.“It’s also not a serious performance. It’s meant to be fun, so that helps add to the atmosphere.”

Many of the dance team’s partners are also student-athletes, with many being on the football team. 

“It is so fun to watch the coaches and teammates cheer them on,” Ruble said. 

Kline expressed her gratitude to the partners, “It takes a lot of courage to step out of your comfort zone and perform with the dance team.”