The Tuscarora Dance Team: Who Are They?

Who brings contagious energy to every pep rally and basketball half-time? The Tuscarora’s dance team performs at pep rallies, participates in dance competitions, and dances during halftime at basketball games. They also dance for U-Nite in the auditorium, which is a celebration of different cultures.
This year is the dance team’s comeback to the world of competitions after a break during the pandemic. Competitions score teams on synchronization, facial expression, and other categories. The team might travel to Kings Dominion this May to compete
These dedicated dancers rehearse two to three times a week; practices consist of warmups, then running dances. They work on dances for different events, some of which include Level Up, Fight Night, and Man’s World.
Team Captain Victoria Ezumah leads choreography and creates demos of the dances for members to practice.
“I just generally enjoy dancing and when I found out there was a dance team, I really wanted to do it,” Ezumah said.
Ezumah welcomes new dancers, “I would love people to just come to dance and just express themselves any type of way,” she said.
The team has a close bond; they assist each other when learning dances and support each other. The team’s coach, Tammy Carter, is a teacher at Tuscarora and beloved by her team. Ezumah describes their coach as “super sweet… she’s amazing and she encourages us.” Ezumah notes that the team supports each other by bringing their unique dance moves to the table and helping each other learn difficult choreography.
Senior Olivia Rhodes, another member of the team, explains that the dancers turn to the seniors when they are struggling to keep their grades up, “because if they aren’t doing well, …they can’t dance.” Rhodes got involved with the dance team because of Carter’s encouragement.
Both Ezumah and Rhodes assert that they would love any new dancers to join the team. “I would really love for us to be widespread,” Ezumah said.
Rhodes adds that many people believe that the dance team is just for girls, but in the past there were many male members of the team. “Everyone has their own style, but… watching guys and girls dance together is this really cool thing.”
The dance team is reemerging as a strong competition sport after their setbacks from the pandemic.