On June 23, students with various levels of dancing experience flocked to studio spaces across campus to audition for Dartmouth’s summer dance groups: Fission, Raazberry, Shebalite, Splenda and Ujimelt, named in parody of their full-year names — Fusion, Raaz, Sheba, Sugarplum and Ujima, respectively. Many students consider joining a dance group, which are primarily sophomore-led in the summer, a quintessential sophomore summer experience.
JJ Dega ’26, for example, said he felt inspired to audition after hearing stories about auditioning and performing in summer dance groups from upperclassmen.
“I’ve heard stories about people auditioning for sophomore summer dance groups, and it seemed like a great way to get involved in a new activity and meet new people and just a fun all-around thing to do this summer that is just kind of silly and goofy,” he said.
Tyler Grubelich ’26 also was influenced by upperclassmen students who joined sophomore summer dance groups, who told him stories about bonding with their classmates. He added that he was further drawn to audition after attending regular dance shows during the year.
“I had been to a couple of dance shows for various groups on campus since coming to Dartmouth,” he said. “All the upperclassmen had always talked about how you can audition for these groups over the summer, and a lot of my friends were auditioning for them, so I just thought I might as well do it.”
Lack of experience was hardly a deterrent for many students. In fact, the summer dance groups encourage beginners to audition, according to Fission summer co-director Hannah Krueger ’26. Despite his own shortage of dancing experience, Colin Kowalski ’26 said he was excited by the opportunity to try a completely new activity.
“It just seemed really cool,” he said. “I’ve never danced in my life before, and I feel like it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity to dance with some of my friends as somebody who has absolutely zero dancing ability.”
Behind the scenes, planning auditions required significant coordination between all five dance groups beforehand. Krueger said she and other directors held several meetings to prepare for the auditions.
“We had to figure out what our choreo was going to be — we actually choreographed a whole section of a dance just for auditions — and we had to book rehearsal spaces which was difficult because some parts of the gym were closed,” Krueger said. “We also had to coordinate with all of the other dance groups to make sure that all of us had a space to hold auditions.”
After planning concluded, Krueger said the auditions themselves ran smoothly — providing a fun, challenging and rewarding experience for many students who were newcomers to the world of dance.
“It was really fun getting to audition with my friends, and it was also a very supportive community among the members of the dance groups who were already there,” Dega said. “And they were fantastic teachers so I felt like it was a low-stakes environment to be able to try out different moves and learn.”
Kowalski, on the other hand, found the audition experience stressful but ultimately gratifying.
“I really did enjoy my time at auditions,” he said. “I had a lot of fun with it, but it was also super stressful because I didn’t want to get cut. And so that was scary, but it was only scary because of how much fun my friends and I were having. I’m really happy that we get to continue that throughout the summer.”
Grubelich, recalling the audition process for Raazberry, highlighted the satisfying feeling of learning choreography.
“The people who were running the auditions would show the dance, and it looked really insanely complicated — it was so impressive,” he said. “And then they would be like, ‘Ok, you’re learning it.’ They would go move by move, and once we did the whole thing together it didn’t feel as difficult as when we saw it. So I just thought it was really cool that when we initially saw it it looked impossible, but then we were actually able to kind of do it ourselves.”
From Krueger’s directorial perspective, teaching the choreography to people who were less experienced dancers was equally fun and rewarding.
“The most fun part of auditions as a director was watching people dance and seeing them get into it,” she said. “It was such a vibrant, energetic environment, and I just loved watching people dance the choreo that we taught them.”
Krueger added that she is excited to experience dance with a less rigid structure than the full year dance groups impose.
“It’s a new experience for me because I’ve never really been in a dance group with people who don’t have extensive dance background,” she said. “So I think I’m just looking forward to having fun with dance and worrying less about whether it’s super technical or not.”
As the summer progresses, students new to the groups look forward to hanging out with friends and making new ones, all while honing their dance skills.
“I’m excited about making some super fun memories and getting the chance to maybe actually learn how to dance,” Kowalski said. “And I’m excited about getting the chance to do that with some of my friends.”
Grubelich emphasized his excitement about bonding with a new group of people within his dance group.
“I think I’m most looking forward to meeting new people,” Grubelich said. “I think Raaz has about 50 members or so for the summer, so I’ll definitely be able to use the space to hopefully make some more friends and have fun. I’m excited to connect with people through a love of dancing and have fun with friends.”
