The Revolution dance team is taking Stillwater by storm.

Revolution is a co-ed dance team that does three different styles of dance: old fashioned, jazz and hip hop. They perform at nursing homes and elementary schools, and plan to do flash mobs as well.

Senior Cassandra Carter said, “We hope to remind the community that teenagers don’t always fit into their stereotypes. Also, we are excited to show the community our joy for dancing.”

The dance team’s agenda is illustrated in its name.

“For us, the word ‘revolution’ has two meanings: One, revolution is a word for a turn, which is perfect for a dance team, and two. we are revolting against the social norms for teenagers by modeling service and positive attitudes,” said Carter.

Creating a social revolution against widely adopted norms and morals for most high school athletics programs, this dance team is deliberately and incredibly flexible. It accommodates the varying circumstances of each member, and hopes to make an impact.

Carter said, “The team came to fruition because of the overly strict rules for Winter Varsity. Also, I have stress fractures in both of my feet, inverted hips and skoli, so Varsity would have been way too hard on my body.”

Carter is not the only one who has benefited from the team’s rebellious intent.

Senior Jordan Breckheimer said, “I wasn’t allowed to participate on the Varsity team because I couldn’t have crazy colored hair, so we decided to start a simple, laid back and fun team of our own! Anybody is welcome to participate!”

Revolution has been advertised through SAHS, but it is not endorsed as an official high school team. Unlike the Chevals Dance Team, Revolution is not a competition sport, and does not require tryouts. Everyone is welcome. The Revolution dance team has many benefits. While the Chevals Dancers can letter in dance, the Revolution Dancers can letter in volunteering through the opportunity the team provides to serve their community through dancing.

Revolting against stereotypes at the core of the team. Breckheimer said, “Our practice times make it possible for many different people to volunteer their time, as well as our flexible rules. You have the option to do old-fashioned style dancing serving the elderly in our community, or jazz and hip hop if serving youth is more appealing. You can do one of them, two of them, or all three of them if you’d like.”

Carter said, “We hope to remind the community that teenagers don’t always fit into their stereotypes. Also, we are excited to show the community our joy for dancing and all of the work that has gone into the team. We choreograph all of our own dances; that takes much more time than people think. It is a lot of work. I hope that people will enjoy and appreciate what we do.”

So far, the team has been very successful and its social agenda is gaining in popularity.

The team meets at the Young Life building across from McDonald’s off of Highway 5. Old-fashioned style dance practice is held on Mondays, jazz style dance practice is held on Tuesdays, and hip hop on Thursdays. All three dance practices take place from 3–5 p.m.

Carter said, “We would just like to express our thanks to Vern at Young Life for allowing us to use his building for practices. We went to many places and he was the first and the only person to say yes to host a group of teenagers!”