The rebirth of the Wilkes Dance Team is spicing up halftimes at Colonels basketball games.

Before the 2010-2011 school year the team had been defunct, but now its entertaining crowds at every home basketball game.

“Dancing at halftime is so much fun,” Hayley Dutka, sophomore co-captain said. “We love performing for the crowd, and lately we’ve been getting a lot of positive attention for it.”

The Spanish/Secondary Education major says the dance team likes to shock the crowd with their routines, which usually gets positive feedback from the crowds.

Sophomore Pharmacy major Jaclyn Palummo also feels the adrenaline rush at games.

“It’s really exciting,” the co-captain said. “The audience gets really into it, I’m glad we can entertain the crowd.

Palummo took over the program last year and says it’s a little more organized than what it used to be. Dutka and her both collaborate on planning the choreography and music. Dutka feels like different viewpoints make for a better experience.

“I feel that Jaclyn and I have different dance backgrounds,” Dutka said. So when we mix our styles together, it creates a great piece.”

Palummo and Dutka bring vast experience to the team. Plaummo had been dancing for 18 years, and Dutka has been in the studio since she was three.

“When I came to Wilkes, I knew I would have to do something with dance, because its what I love to do, and I can’t imagine not doing it,” Dutka said.

Starting the team back up last year was a little tough according to Palummo, especially as a freshman. Dutka also said there are sometimes struggles to promote the club.

“It is hard to build up a club that isn’t that well known,” Dutka said. “We are always trying to expand the team.”

The dance team is always trying to be innovative and try new things, even if that is changing dancing venues.

“This was actually the first year the dance team performed at a football game” Palummo said. “Dancing on the turf wasn’t as bad as you would think too.

The team is also very community oriented. They participated in last semester’s flood and relief and are starting a Relay for Life team too.

“I feel like we are definitely a lot closer this semester because of involvement in the community,” Palummo said.

Both captains said that making the team stronger was their biggest goal. They both want to leave Wilkes by making an impact on the team.

“The most important thing is to make the team as strong as it can be,” Dutka said. Whether we have ten girls or twenty, it’s all about the strength of the dancers and the routines.”

Palummo said the team practices Sunday and Monday nights for around two hours. They are always looking for new members.

When asked if Palummo wanted to continue dance after college she said, “I don’t think there is much a dancing pharmacist can do.”