The Grand Valley State University Elite Dance club celebrates its second year as an official student organization on campus. 

GVSU Elite is currently a performance organization but working towards becoming a competitive team that attends dance competitions along with conventions. The club works to create a space for people to continue to dance in college and find community. 

Elite Dance president Kylie McCaskill created the club because of her lifelong passion for dance. 

McCaskill hopes to incorporate dance into her future career through teaching at Piazza Dance Company, her former dance studio in Northville, Michigan along with teaching barre, dance-based exercise. 

“Since I have been dancing seriously for over 15 years now, I found it difficult to have to stop so suddenly after I graduated high school,” McCaskill said. “Dance has been such an important and big part of my life for so long and I want it to continue to play an important role in my future.” 

McCaskill’s journey with dance began at the age of three at Piazza Dance Company. Later, at the age of eight, she would begin dancing competitively with Piazza along with dancing for her high school’s competitive dance team. 

McCaskill said she loves dance because of the powerful emotions she experiences while performing. She said performing brings a “rush of joy” and the challenge that dance offers pushes each dancer to be their best self. 

“Dance is an individual sport just as much as it is a team sport and you are able to push yourself to be better for yourself as well as your team,” McCaskill said. “I very much enjoy putting in hard work every week with my best friends and teammates and being able to showcase all of the hours of hard work put in on stage in one final product.” 

McCaskill believes the team created a strong bond throughout the past year.  

“We are also becoming very close as a team and I love how everyone feeds off of each other’s energy during practice,” McCaskill said. “We all truly care about improving as a team and helping each other improve individually.” 

Additionally, McCaskill said amazing memories have been formed because of the club. One of her favorite memories throughout her time as president was watching her creation of Elite Dance become reality through various performances.

“My most cherished memory from Elite Dance is our first performance as a team at LakerThon last semester,” McCaskill said. “It was such an amazing feeling to see my idea for the team come to life for the first time, and it was great to be able to perform again and feel the energy from my fellow teammates.” 

“I think students should dance because it provides an outlet for creativity and allows for dancers to have something to work for and to have a team to be a part of,” McCaskill said.

McCaskill is proud to continue her journey of leading GVSU Elite Dance through its second year, along with watching the growth of each individual dancer. 

“I am so happy to be able to provide dancers at GV with a new opportunity to continue to dance and improve throughout college in a team-centered environment that allows for creativity, positivity and growth,” McCaskill said.

GVSU Elite Dance meets Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. The practices consist of choreography, technique and conditioning classes run by advising staff coaches.

Auditions are held at the start of the semester and McCaskill encourages dancers, especially those with a competitive background, to join.