Ignite Dance Co. is a new dance student organization at Grand Valley State University. This club specializes in styles of dance including Hip-Hop, Jazz Funk and Heels. 

Sophomore Andre Glover is the founder of Ignite Dance Co. He started this club as a way to create a space for these styles, empower students and expand members’ dance abilities. 

Glover said he discovered his passion for dance at the age of two. Throughout his childhood, he watched videos and studied artists like Micheal Jackson, Ciara and Beyoncé. These performers inspired him and shaped the course of his life. 

To enhance his dance ambitions, Glover studied at the Detroit School of Arts and is now a dance major at GVSU. 

Later, Glover would dance at his church as a praise dancer. He said dancing for his local church allowed him to expand his dancing abilities, especially allowing his range of skills to grow. During this time Glover honed in on his ability to express emotion while dancing.

“Dancing for my church was a great experience for me because it was different because I was dancing for God,” Glover said. “Dancing for the church really opened my eyes to showing more emotions in my dance craft. I am used to Hip-Hop and that doesn’t have a lot of emotion in it because it is full force and strong. But dancing in church helped my variability in dance.” 

Glover created Ignite Dance Co. to empower students through dance and expanded students’ dance abilities. He described these styles “as an infusion” of himself and something he wanted to continue to practice and expand upon. 

“There were not a lot of Hip-Hop, Jazz Funk and Heels clubs at GVSU and that is what I see myself doing outside of school,  so I wanted to create a club that has them all,” Glover said.

Glover expressed that by including Heels training into the organization he hopes to bring the styles- which contributes a big part of the dance community- into other peoples’ dance experiences. 

“Heels is a confidence thing that allows dancers to become more confident,” Glover said.  “I want to bring that out of people because I know that they have it in them. I want people to feel empowered and I want the audience to feel empowered as well.”  

Glover said he wants Ignite Dance Co. to be a safe place for students to express themselves and explore their passion for dance. Additionally, he wants Ignite to be a diverse group that everyone can feel comfortable in and provide a place for people to relieve stress. 

“Dance is a distraction from the world,” Glover said. “When I dance, I don’t think about any stress or problems I have going on.” 

More information about Ignite Dance Co. can be found on their Instagram page @Ignitedance_Co and on LakerLink.