Student Greek organizations compete at Dancing Through Life

Troy Fraternities and Sororities came together with the Student Government Association to compete in a dance competition for Homecoming week. 

The competition, called Dancing through Life, is an annual Homecoming event in which each sorority and fraternity on campus choreographs and performs a dance, with the top fraternity and sorority being announced at the Homecoming game on Saturday. 

“The energy was crazy in the Arena,” said Ethan Jones, a Farmhouse dancer and sophomore secondary English education major from Pike Road, Alabama. “It’s really fun when you get out there and everyone just gets so excited.” 

The theme of the dances went along with the Wicked/Wizard of Oz theme for Homecoming Week, “There’s No Place like Troy.” 

“It was cool to see everyone’s interpretation of Wicked and Wizard of Oz, and I think it went really well,” said Keley Bulman, an Alpha Gamma Delta dancer and sophomore risk management and insurance major from Fairhope, Alabama. 

To prepare for their dances, each sorority and fraternity began tryouts and practices months in advance, often practicing late at night, multiple hours a week. 

“Seeing the dedication of how hard both groups of organizations come together to do this is really special,” said SGA’s Homecoming Direcor Abby Gilland, a junior hospitality tourism and event management major from Alexander City, Alabama. “It takes months; they really do practice a lot every single week for months to do this, so they’re very dedicated to this event, and I really admire that honestly. 

“I love to see it because I know that I’m working a lot to make this event good, and I’m seeing that they also care that much to make it good on their side as well.” 

According to Jones, all of the time spent practicing really builds the anticipation and excitement for the performance, both for the dancers and the audience. 

“Eventually you get to the point where you are just ready to go out and perform it and hearing everyone cheering makes it so much more exciting,” Jones said. “You know, you’ve been telling your friends about it, and all of them finally getting to see it is really cool.” 

For Bulman though, the anticipation can also lead to nerves or stress, but she finds the best way to handle them is to use them to her advantage. 

“I definitely think there’s a lot of pressure to do well, but a lot of times, you can kind of take that pressure and put it into your dance, and then it’s just that much greater,” Bulman said. 

SGA’s goal with Dancing Through Life was deeper than entertaining the crowd and putting on a competition. According to Gilland, building community and school spirit is always a top priority for Homecoming Week events. 

“You really do get to see the Trojan Spirit that comes out of this, and I really do love that,” Gilland said. “I think this time of week is when you see the most Trojan Spirit in everyone, cheering each other on and supporting each other. That’s what I really love about it, just how united everyone is.”