User:GRangers28/Michigan Hockey Dance

= The Story = The Michigan Hockey Dance(also known as the Blues Brothers dance) has long been a tradition at Yost Ice Hockey Arena at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, MI. Students dance to the song as it is played by the Hockey Pep Band during the second intermision between the 2nd and 3rd periods of play. Origionally, the student section would stand and clap to the beat as select individuals would dance wildly up and down the isles. This would then be followed by a roar of applause by all who watched as the song came to a conclusion.

Changing Tradition
The University of Michigan is known for its strong traditions and as such, it is hard for them to change. However, in 2008 a small group of friends decided it was time for a change. Headed by Trey Geier, the group was composed of members of the university's Men's Glee Club as well as the Michigan Marching Band who all sat in the now famous "Section 17" at Yost. They decided that everyone should dance and have a good time while the song is played.

"Section 17"
Located on the student side arena, section 17 sits between the dots and the blue line on the far end of Yost. The band plays next to this section, in section 18 which results in frequent exchanges between memebers of section 17 and the Pep Band. This leads to the constant evolution of the dance and other Hockey traditions.

Flags
Starting in 2010, members of the section started an extremely large Swedish flag obove their heads every time player Carl Hagelin was inclolved in a key play. At the end of the regular season, during seior night at Yost, members of section 17 signed the flag and presented it the Captain of the Wolverines as an appreciation for his time at Michigan.

Development
As is became apparent that members of the section 17 crowd were having so much fun dancing to the song, slowly, through encouragement, others started to join in the fun. As each hockey game passed a trend started to develope and a series of "moves" began to take form.

The Moves
The moves progress as a perticular part of the song is reached and then repeated for each verse.

Clap
Just Clap to the song, listen to the band play and wait for the chorus!

Fist Punch
At the start of the chorus, the first move is to punch your right and left arms directly outward in succesion.

Fist Pump
Second the same punching motion is used but directed toward the sky as the song gets slightly higher in pitch.

Hand in the Air
Starting to the Left, the hands are thrown in the air, brought down to do a roll(like a traveling call in basketball), and then thrown to the other side in a repeating fassion.

Repeat
At the end of the chorus return to clapping and wait for the whole thing to start again!

Changes
The dance is always being added to and modified in defferent ways by the members of section 17 and as such simply needs to be witnessed to be understood.

Hockey Dance for All Sports
At the first regular season game for Michigan football, with a newly completed renovation done to Michigan Stadium, the dance was taught(although incorrectly) to the NCAA reacord setting crowd by the Michigan Dance team and Cheer Leaders. It has since then continued to gain popularity and can now be seen during breaks in both Michigan football and basketball games.