The dancers take their ready positions. They’re standing – feet more than shoulder-width apart. Their elbows stick out as their hands clasp at their belly buttons.
It’s an image of power and unity that only the Drake Dance Team could illustrate.
“We’re going to do it full-out this time,” said Paige Bohannon, the captain of the DDT.
On her cue, Captain Ashlynn Fitzpatrick starts the music, then scampers to her spot.
It’s a fierce routine.
Just ten seconds in, three dancers execute an aerial so effortless, yet intense. Other sequences of note include the “Boss Ladies” eight-count — see season 6, episode 18 of “Dance Moms” — the righteous step turn, leap turn and the final power stance.
Nobody is making the dancers do this. There isn’t an authority figure counting them in and shouting corrections. It’s the dancers — and the dancers alone — that hold high standards for the DDT.
“I’m really proud of the team for showing up every single night and holding themselves to that standard, so we can try things and try harder choreography to keep improving,” Fitzpatrick said.
Independently owned
Dancers on the DDT utilize their own resources to keep the team operating.
First, the DDT doesn’t have a professional coach.
“[Bohannon and I] are in that leadership role,” Fitzpatrick said. “We choreograph and we clean. We do have other chairs that hold leadership positions on the team.”
One of those leadership positions is the fundraising chair.
“I did that last year,” Fitzpatrick said. “[I] would reach out to small businesses around Des Moines to try to let us fundraise and earn for the team.”
But the funds the DDT earns from businesses aren’t enough to cover all their needs.
“For everyone’s uniform, it was $8,000,” Bohannon said.
The dancers pay their own dues to keep the team together.
The DDT independently trains and fundraises. It also sets its own expectations for clean technique, positive teamwork and high energy.
Technique on fleek
As captains, Fitzpatrick and Bohannon have different teaching styles.
“Paige is really good with her poms,” Fitzpatrick said. “I bring more of the jazz side, and I try to make it [have] a sassy vibe.”
Still, both captains share a common goal of improving the technique of their dancers.
“I’m very detail-oriented when it comes to cleaning and I’ll always be someone to [say], ‘Reminder on the technique here,’” Fitzpatrick said.
In coaching technique, Fitzpatrick said she does it out of love.
“When we…incorporate the technique that we know our dancers are strong in, it means we’re going for clean, exciting dances,” Fitzpatrick said.
‘They want to see you dance’
Anthony Pope has been dancing for 10 years. However, that didn’t make joining the DDT easy for the transfer sophomore.
“Pom is something that I had never really done before until university,” Pope said.
Pope is trained in hip-hop, which is distinct from pom.
“With pom, you gotta have very locked, strong arms,” Pope said. “I’m more used to being loose and not having to be tight up front.”
Pope said that Bohannon and Fitzpatrick have been helping him with his pom technique.
“I feel a lot more confident in performing routines now,” Pope said.
The captains strive for a positive team dynamic.
“If you’re struggling with something, they don’t look at you and say, ‘Oh, you can’t dance,’” Pope said. “They know you got the potential and they’re there to help you, not to discourage you.”
Pope said students should expect to be amazed by the DDT this basketball season.
“You can expect to see that energy,” Pope said. “You can expect to also see that sass and that attitude and we’re just going to bring it.”
Give it up for the DDT
This basketball season, the DDT is setting itself to a high standard. Captains Bohannon and Fitzpatrick ask for students’ support in return.
“We hit a jump and the elderly people are [clapping],” Bohannon said.
“They get lit,” Fitzpatrick added.
The captains said they want students to do the same: to stand and get loud.
After all, by its standards, when the DDT hits that aerial, turn and leap – it will land it every single time.
