Kylee Wideman, captain of the NC State Dance Team and a senior studying polymer and color chemistry, dreams of one day becoming a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader.
As an effort to pursue her dreams, Wideman sent an audition video of the dance team to “Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders: Making the Team,” a reality show on CMT. The show chose the NC State Dance Team as the “best college dance team,” earning the members the opportunity to perform with the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders Dec. 19 at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
The win came as a surprise to the rest of the team, who didn’t know Wideman entered the competition. However, the members were thrilled when they found out they were in the top three and even more excited Sept. 10 when they found out they had won.
“Everyone had a different response. Some of us cried, some just stood there in shock, but we all were completely filled with excitement,” said Cameron Elliot, a member of the team and a sophomore studying architecture.
Before the competition, the team will be sent a choreographed routine from the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders that it will learn before the departure to Dallas Dec. 17. Once the team arrives, it will practice the routine alongside the Cowboys cheerleaders before its live performance Dec. 19. Until then, each member of the dance team has been working out individually and continuing to practice four days a week for other obligations, such as dancing at the basketball games.
“We are preparing several basketball routines now so that we can put all of our focus on the Dallas routine when we receive the choreography video,” Elliot said.
Starting as early as 6 a.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays, with additional practices on Wednesday and Friday afternoons, the dance team works for more than two hours at each practice. Members are required to run an eight-minute mile at the beginning of each practice to ensure they are in the best physical condition and to learn discipline. Coach Amanda Roediger believes that requiring the team to run is not only a tradition that has continued for 21 years, but that it takes that amount of physical endurance to perform a two-minute dance routine. She believes discipline and endurance are a critical part of having a successful dance team.
Winning the competition has led the team to gain more recognition at the university level. Elliot said the team has observed amazing support from the fans and NC State community. She said the team was excited to learn that funds for the trip are coming from multiple university resources, one of which being NC State Athletics.
“Hearing that they contributed made us feel more appreciated in the work that we do, as well as knowing that the university is backing us makes this trip even more special,” Elliot said.
In addition, the team has been recognized by several major news organizations in the Raleigh community, such as The News & Observer, and has appeared on WNCN’s “My Carolina Today.”
On the show, Roediger talked about how honored the team feels to represent the school on such a big platform, and she is grateful for the exposure this process has given the team.
“First and foremost, make sure that we are representing our university — that’s why we are visible, and that’s why we go out and enter competitions like this,” Roediger said. “The goal is to bring a positive light not only to our program but the university as well.”
NCSU's dance team performs at the beginning of the NC State vs UNC Chapel Hill football game on Saturday, Nov. 28, 2015.
