Little Roos hop to the beat

A few of the dancers occasionally became distracted during the rehearsals. This was understandable, as most were from three to seven years old.

Preparing for their big half-time debut during the evening's basketball game at Municipal Auditorium, more than 30 girls participated in the first UMKC Dance Team Clinic Saturday morning in Swinney Recreation Center.

Frequent breaks (usually with cookies and fruit juices) helped them survive the "grueling" three-hour training session necessary for the big stage.

Some parents giggled like crazy from the sidelines. Others couldn't stop taking photos.

"We give them all a poster and a T-shirt, which they'll wear tonight at the game," Dance Coach Michele Morgan said.

The clinic was part of the fundraising efforts of the Dance Team, which is headed to the national championships in April. (UMKC qualified last July during dance camp at Kansas State University.)

The team's practice is normally scheduled on Wednesdays and Sundays, but the dancers showed up for an extra session to work with their younger (and clearly bedazzled) counterparts.

Splitting the children in to three groups according to age, they put them through the steps. Two team members worked on more complicated moves with the oldest group (up to 11 years old).

With the youngest group, four team members were necessary just to keep track of those who wandered off, but Morgan said that, overall, she was proud of the results of the event.

This is the second year Morgan has been coaching the Roos' team of 14 dancers, many of whom are dance majors here at UMKC. Most are freshmen and sophomores, but she thinks they will do well in the competition.

"This will be their first time going, but they're really, really good," she said. "We just learned our nationals' routine a month ago, so we're going to really start ramping that up over the next couple of months."

Morgan is not new to high-level competition, having previously taken University of South Carolina's team to the nationals four times.

In the mean time, the Dance Team will have a little extra help during its half-time exhibition.

dsimons@unews.com