Divine Dancers

“Dance is more than just the moving of your feet and hips. It’s a way to express how you feel and to tell a story that will not only impact you but other lives as well.”This quote is the mission statement of the “Divine Dancers” – the first ever Vanguard dance team.

According to the student handbook, dancing is not permitted unless choreographed. This rule has discouraged dancing in general on campus and in result no dance team has ever been formed. Until now.

The “Divine Dancers” is a dance team formed by junior Sharonda Davis. The team has performed once in the previous semester at VU’s Open Mic Night but since then has yet to feature again.

The team started with an idea – a simple acknowledgement of the lack of dance at our university and a solution.

In the beginning, creating this club was a struggle. Though many obstacles stood in their way, the dance team was finally formed.

The “Divine Dancers” is an official Vanguard dance team this semester. The team consists of twenty one members including the dance team officers. The deemed officers are the president and founder – Sharonda Davis, vice president – Gloria Aguilar, secretary – Ruth Cox, treasurer – Luandy Estrada, and activities directors Daneyqua Jones and Nashay Smith.

There is yet to be an advisor appointed for the team, but they are currently recruiting one. Even with several obstacles, Davis is not worried. “God will take care of everything,” Davis said. God is the main reason she had the urge to start the dance teams. She recalled that she has always loved dancing and before she found God, she would dance on several occasions such as parties and even in her own home by herself.

Then when she found God about five years ago, ideas of dancing for his glory came to mind. She began to practice and it fueled her desire to share this type of worship With everyone.

Primarily, the Divine Dancers hope to impact its place of birth – Vanguard University. As Davis explains, “I’ve heard so many people get turned off because there is no dancing here. But once I tell them that I’m starting a dance team, people [will] want to go here,” she said.

Davis hopes to impact the campus in a positive way to show there is more than just singing to praise God. The team plans to incorporate several genres of dance into their performances such as Hip-Hop, Step, African Dance, and many other different cultures.

The officers believe that dance is cross cultural and they want to expose as many cultures as possible in correlation to the Vanguard Diversity Program. As Davis put it, “Music is a universal language and dance is a universal language. It connects cultural ties. You can see anyone dancing and if you know that dance too, then you connect with them.”

The “Divine Dancers” will be having their first concert on November 11th and are trying to get spots in future chapels and shine events.