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Elon's Finest

Purpose: Elon’s Finest is a hip hop dance team. They are independent of the Elon Dance Team that performs at football games. Elon’s Finest choreography is centered around different styles of hip hop dance. The team will occasionally incorporate different styles of jazz and ballet into their routines (Marshall). Elon’s Finest is a performance based club that performs in many locations on and off campus (Cooper). Origin: Elon’s Finest was founded in 1991. At the time, there was a dance team at Elon that cheered at the football and basketball games; however, the team was founded on the principles of doing hip hop choreography. The founders of the team are Cybill Shepherd and Nichole Williamson (Cooper). Their other purpose for establishing the club was for people to come together who shared a passion for dance and had a respect for diversity ("Elon's Finest Hip-Hop Dance Team"). History: Since 1991 Elon’s Finest has performed in many events on and off campus. Elon’s Finest performs annually at the fall and spring step show. Other past performances include BCS Fashion Show, Hypnotist performances, Carnival Day at the MBCC, Relay for Life at UNC, UNC Opeyo Multicultural Dance Competition, ELONTHON, What’s After High School Fair, UNCG Hip-Hop Dance Competition, Elon Women’s Basketball halftime, College Coffee and the the Pink Pearls Breast Cancer Awareness("Elon's Finest Hip-Hop Dance Team"). Auditions: Elon’s Finest holds auditions in the spring and fall semester. Auditions are three days long. Students trying out are given a number to be referred to throughout the three day period. On the first day of auditions the choreographer teaches students one of Elon’s Finest routines. Then the second day of the audition is spent clarifying and asking questions about the choreography. The third day is the actual tryouts. On this day students auditioning perform the routine they learned by themselves for the executive board of Elon’s Finest. The student auditioning also gets a chance to perform their own thirty second solo in any style of dance they want. Within three days the student will get an email from the executive board saying if they made the team or not (Cooper). The 5 C’s of Excellence: Elon’s Finest hip-hop team heeds to five pillars, also known as the 5 C’s of Excellence. The 5 C’s include Cohesion, Commitment, Community, Consistency, and Creativity. These five words represent the core principles around which the team is based. Cohesion- Team members are from numerous backgrounds, but they come together to form a family-like community because of our common interest of dance. Commitment- The team holds a firm commitment to one another and to the team’s performance. Elon’s Finest believes that commitment is key to the success of all relationships, and groups. Commitment also plays into trust. The team must trust one another, to learn choreography, to come to practices, and to act in accord dance to the 5 C’s, and to be there for one another when needed for any reason. Consistency-This C is also related to trust. To ensure the maintenance of the team there must be a consistent amount of involvement on campus. The team must work to improve the quality of their performance, always looking for better routines and never settling. The team believes that there is always room for improvement and always opportunities to get more involved. Creativity- The collaboration of each girl’s dance, music, and personal backgrounds to create one unified dance. The best example of this is when the group creates dances where the dancers are divided into groups and assigned to choreograph and choose their own music. Depending on where people are from, geographically, their interests, and heritage dances and dance styles will differ. All of these things are needed to create different pieces and to help each dancer become well-rounded. Community- This C relates to the groups philanthropy of the Empowerment of Youth in Our Community. The group prides itself in the wok it does with and for the Mayco Bigelow Community Center of Burlington, NC Community Involvement: The team’s philanthropic work reaches beyond the realm of dance. Elon’s Finest is heavily involved in the Empowerment of Youth in Our Community. The team partners with Mayco Bigelow Community Center of Burlington, NC. They teach dance workshops, but also tutor and mentor youth at the center. In addition to volunteering, Elon’s Finest spends a great deal of time fundraising for the Mayco Bigelow Community Center (Arora). Members: Members of the team as of the 2009-2010 school year include: Brooke Babb, Lauren Bambino, Gabby Bell, Brea Hamilton, Jill Hollis, Ashley Meeks, Alison Merrill, Tracy McBride, Crystal Moyer, Cecilia Potter, and Stephanie Robinson, Christina Cooper, Alicia Richardson, Dacie Marshall, Renee Gilmer and Catherine Walters (Marshall). Overall Goals: The team’s main goal is performing at different events on campus. Elon’s Finest wants to collect as many fans and audience members as they can. Elon’s Finest consists of no dance majors. Everyone on the team simply loves to dance (Cooper). Elon’s finest works to come up with dances to perform around campus and become closer as a team. The team hopes to better the Elon and Burlington community by celebrating their unity and diversity through service and entertainment (Multicultural Center).

Sources: Marshall, Dacie. Personal Interview. 25 Oct. 2009. Cooper, Christina. Personal Interview. 23 Oct. 2009. Arora, Neel. “Female Student Hip-Hop Group Independent of University.” The Pendulum 31 March 2009. Web. Mulitcultural Center. Elon University. Web. 23 Oct. 2009. “Elon’s Finest Hip-Hop Dance Team.” facebook.com. facebook, n.d. Web. 23 Oct. 2009.