Twelve young women alone on a huge stage. Thousands of spectators staring at their every move with thousands more watching on national television. Hundreds of hours of practice boiling down to two minutes and fifteen seconds of adrenaline-fueled dance.

That was the scene last year at the National Dance Alliance Collegiate Championship in Daytona Beach, Fla. The squad of scrutinized athletes was Harvard’s very own Crimson Dance Team (CDT).

The team, which is a largely self-funded and entirely student-run group, had never finished higher than 12th place at the national tournament. It’s a safe bet that most of the people watching that day probably did not expect much from these Ivy League girls.

As it would turn out, though, last year’s CDT members stunned everyone but themselves as they took fifth place at Nationals, breaking into the final round for the first time in the group’s six-year history. The CDT finished within striking distance of established national dance programs like Towson and UNC-Charlotte.

“Making the top 10 has been a goal of the team ever since it was founded, and making the top five was a goal we made during that spring break,” says tri-captain Maya Horii ’02. “[Finishing in fifth] was like all of our dreams over the past few years coming true.”

“I will never forget standing by the stage when our scores were announced,” Horii added.

Now in its seventh year of existence, it seems that the CDT can look ahead to an even brighter future and perhaps continue to assert itself on the national stage. With an abundance of new talent, the hiring of a professional choreographer, and increased visibility on campus, the CDT is looking to take its spirit and savvy to new heights.

CDT: A Primer

The average Harvard student probably knows very little about the CDT, perhaps aside from the fact that it performs during halftime of the men’s and women’s basketball games in the winter. Even then, though, not many people appreciate the time commitment and energy that goes into preparing just one of those halftime performances.

The CDT was founded in the spring of 1995 by Roxanne Pan ’96 and Azucena Verdin ’98 with the ostensible purpose of providing Harvard dancers with “the opportunity to practice and perform at a consistently intense level.”

As the group’s year-round schedule and rigorous practices demonstrate, the CDT takes this commitment very seriously.

“We all believe that it is important to dance regularly and at an intense level,” says tri-captain Vedra Chandler ’02.

Newcomer Megan Cameron ’05 also values dancing regularly as “a way to relieve stress” and to structure time.

Altogether, CDT members meet, practice and perform for roughly 20 hours each week in the spring and only slightly less in the fall. Three nights a week, the team goes over its routines in three-hour practices. The dancers also meet for a 90-minute strength and conditioning workout twice a week.

In addition to the rigors of physical practice, the CDT also meets once a week for an hour to discuss general team issues. Although there are only 12 girls on this year’s squad, team members are assigned to one of four sub-committees to work on aspects of publicity, fundraising, web development, or general financial issues.